Download August 2007 Getting Tough on Crime, Getting Tough on the Causes

“Getting Tough on Crime,
Getting Tough on the Causes of Crime”:
The Impacts of Penal Populism on the
Criminal Justice Practitioner
Justin Piché
PhD Candidate (Sociology)
Carleton University
[email protected]
Back to the Future:
“Getting Tough on Crime”
A ‘Conservative’ Project: United States – 1980s
A ‘Centrist’ Project: Canada – 1990s
A ‘Leftist’ Project: Sweden – 1990s
Recurring Themes
Construction of ‘Us’ and ‘Them’
Taking Crime Seriously = Punishment
Results
Rising Imprisonment Rates, Privatization
Displacement of Discretion, Rising Case Loads
From Welfare State to Penal State
Back to the Future:
“Getting Tough on the Causes of Crime”
Taking Crime Seriously through
‘Crime Prevention’
England (Labour Party) – 1990s
Canada (All Parties) – (post-2005)
Recurring Themes
‘Tougher’ Laws Are Needed
BUT We Also Need to Equip Communities
Occasional Mention of Root Causes
Ushering in the Culture of Control:
‘Tackling Crime’ in Canada
The ‘Accomplishments’
Bill C-9: Conditional Sentencing Reform
Bill C-18: DNA Data Bank
Bill C-19: Street Racing
For details see www.tacklingcrime.gc.ca
Ushering In the Culture of Control:
‘Tackling Crime’ in Canada
On the Docket
Bill C-2: Tackling Violent Crime
A.K.A
Bill C-10: Mandatory Minimum Penalties
Bill C-22: Age of Protection
Bill C-27: Dangerous and High-Risk Offenders
Bill C-32: Impaired Driving Reform
Bill C-35: Bail Reforms for Firearm Offences
For details see www.tacklingcrime.gc.ca
Ushering In the Culture of Control:
‘Tackling Crime’ in Canada
Mo’ Better
‘Reforming’ the YCJA
Mandatory Sentences for ‘Serious’ Drug Crimes
Identity Theft Legislation
For details see www.tacklingcrime.gc.ca
Ushering In the Culture of Control:
‘Tackling Crime’ in Canada
Funding Commitments – $973.8 million
National Anti-Drug Strategy $63.8 million
More Federal Police $198 million
More Federal Prisons $245 million
Youth Crime Prevention $20 million
National DNA Data Bank $15 million
Victims of Crime $26 million
Arming Border Guards $103 million
Moving ‘low-risks’ Across Borders $303 million
For details see www.tacklingcrime.gc.ca
Universal Carceral:
On the Exportation of Confinement
Immigration
Detention
Labour
Detention
Security
Detention
Criminal
Justice
Sentence
Combat
Detention
Health
Detention
A Forecast for the
John Howard Society of Canada
The Trajectory
Misinformation
Politics of Divide and Conquer
Vengeance as Communication
Eroding Remains of Community
Resource Disenfranchisement
The Expanding Need
Mass Incarceration
Categories of Human Life Rendered Disposable
Programming as New ‘Welfare’
Changing the Trajectory
Bringing the Prison to Canadians
DIY
Mass Media
Tapping New Pools of Volunteers
Key Actors
Prisoners and Their Loved Ones
Criminal Justice Practitioners
Advocates and Volunteers
Journalists
Academics
Key Challenges
Access
The fire has brought us back
As we tell ourselves we’re under attack
Caught between mirrors that do lie
And the smoke surrounding them that blinds and binds
In the end, the fire is in our hands
In the end, our heads are burrowed in the sand
In the end, the fire is in our hands
In the end, will we stop to make amends?
The army on movie and TV screens
Fight fear, distress, chaos, it’s a war on everything
Wind-up the machine to reclaim destiny through human plundering
With Monday another chance to fight
Look out for dark figures running into the night
Manufactured (in)security
Eroding remains of community
They want the fire back
They got the fire back
We brought the fire back
They want fire, fire
Will we stop?
Fire
NO ONE IS DISPOSABLE.
Justin Piché
Ph.D. Candidate (Sociology)
Carleton University
[email protected]