On this episode of Appointed, Justice Harry S. LaForme, former Superior Court of Justice and Ontario Court of Appeal judge, and Kim talk about punishment in Canada’s criminal legal system. More specifically, they discuss mandatory minimum penalties and how their reduction in numbers, as proposed by C-22, will not reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples in prison; the deep rootedness of racism and sexism in the criminal legal systems; and the need to address the underlying inequities that make people more vulnerable to being victimized, criminalized and institutionalized.
Resources mentioned during the show and further reading:
Learn more about Justice Harry S. LaForme here and here.
https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1695/index.do
https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/8000/index.do
https://www.criaw-icref.ca/images/userfiles/files/P4W_BN_IncarcerationRacializedWomen_Accessible.pdf
https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/
http://www.trc.ca/about-us/trc-findings.html
http://trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf
https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/mrgnlzd/index-en.aspx
https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/oip-cjs/p3.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/22/one-third-canada-prisoners-indigenous-report
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/indigenous-overrepresentation-prison-oci-statement-1.5434712
http://www.firstnationsdrum.com/2020/01/number-of-incarcerated-indigenous-women-at-new-high/
https://sencanada.ca/en/senators/pate-kim/interventions/545733/33
http://www.ajic.mb.ca/volumel/chapter4.html#5
https://www.mcgill.ca/humanrights/files/humanrights/ihri_wps_v5_n13_philpott.pdf