Corrections + Parole
🏛 Foundations of Criminal Justice Governance
Q: What are the three primary objectives of the penal system?
A: Retribution, rehabilitation, and community protection.
Q: What are common issues in public management of criminal justice?
A: Independence vs. accountability, cost, and privatization.
Q: What is the average cost per inmate per day in Canada?
A: $323 per day.
📜 Historical Commissions
Q: What did the Archambault Commission (1938) recommend?
A: Prison reform emphasizing rehabilitation, humane discipline, and creation of an independent parole board.
Q: What was the focus of the Fauteux Commission (1956)?
A: Conditional release, parole as motivation for rehabilitation, and proportionality in sentencing.
Q: What key ideas came from the Ouimet Committee (1969)?
A: Rehabilitation over punishment, criticism of corporal punishment, and support for early reintegration.
🚨 Kingston Penitentiary Riot (1971)
Q: What caused the Kingston Penitentiary riot in 1971?
A: Overcrowding, harsh conditions, and rumors of transfers to Millhaven.
Q: What was one key outcome of the Kingston inquiry?
A: Creation of the Office of the Correctional Investigator.
🏢 Present-Day Corrections Structure
Q: What law governs Canada’s correctional system?
A: Corrections and Conditional Release Act.
Q: Who oversees federal penitentiaries in Canada?
A: Correctional Service Canada (CSC) for sentences of 2+ years.
Q: Who is responsible for granting parole?
A: National Parole Board, except in Ontario and Quebec.
🧍♂ CSC Quick Facts
Q: How many offenders does CSC manage (as of 2022)?
A: Approx. 22,000 (13,280 incarcerated, 8,720 in community).
Q: What is CSC’s mission?
A: Encourage offenders to become law-abiding citizens while ensuring safety and humane control.
📈 Incarceration Trends in Canada
Q: Has Canada’s incarceration rate increased dramatically since 1960?
A: No—it has remained fairly stable.
Q: What helps limit rising incarceration in Canada?
A: Historical restraint, federal jurisdiction, judicial independence, and cultural skepticism of harsh punishment.
🛡 Protective Factors Against Incarceration
Q: What structural factor limits punitive shifts in criminal law?
A: The federal control over the Criminal Code.
Q: Why are Canadian judges more independent than U.S. judges?
A: Canadian judges are appointed, not elected or recalled.
🔓 Conditional Release (Parole)
Q: What law replaced the Ticket of Leave Act?
A: The National Parole Board was created in 1959.
Q: What is the difference between conditional and statutory release?
A: Conditional requires approval; statutory happens at 2/3 of sentence automatically.
Q: What is the goal of conditional release?
A: Safe, gradual reintegration using least restrictive means to reduce recidivism.
⚠ Threats to Conditional Release
Q: What recent trends threaten parole in Canada?
A: More restrictive policies, longer ineligibility periods, and declining parole grants.
Q: What percentage of releases are now statutory?
A: Over 65%.
🚨 Solitary Confinement (Segregation)
Q: What is solitary confinement?
A: Isolation for up to 23 hours/day with minimal contact or services.
Q: What concerns exist about segregation?
A: Mental health harms, misuse for managing difficult inmates, lack of rehab access, and inconsistency.
🧠 Ashley Smith Case
Q: What happened to Ashley Smith?
A: A 1-month sentence became 4 years in segregation; she died while being watched and not helped.
Q: What was the result of the Smith inquest?
A: A verdict of homicide and 104 recommendations including abolishing indefinite solitary confinement.
⚖ Smith Inquiry Recommendations
Q: Name 2 key recommendations from the Ashley Smith Inquiry.
A:
Abolish indefinite solitary confinement
Increase mental health resources and staff discretion to override harmful orders.
🏛 Judicial Review of Solitary Confinement
Q: What did the SCC decide in R v. Olson (1987)?
A: Solitary confinement does not violate s.12 of the Charter.
Q: What did R v. Anderson (2014) note about segregation?
A: It is harsher and more degrading than general population custody.
⚖ Appeal Court Cases on Segregation (2019)
Q: What did ONCA decide in CCLA v. Canada (2019)?
A: Segregation over 15 days violates s.12 of the Charter.
Q: What did BCCA rule in John Howard Society v. Canada (2019)?
A: Violated s.7 and s.15—found solitary to be overbroad and discriminatory.
🧩 Bill C-83 (2019) – Structured Intervention Units
Q: What did Bill C-83 aim to do?
A: Replace solitary confinement with Structured Intervention Units (SIUs).
Q: What do SIUs provide?
A:
4 hours out of cell
2 hours of meaningful human contact
Access to programs and healthcare
❌ Criticisms of SIUs
Q: Why are SIUs criticized?
A:
Still similar to solitary confinement
No time limits
Oversight is weak
Many inmates don't receive required time out of cells
🏛 Philosophy of Criminal Justice
Q: What shapes how governments manage criminal justice systems?
A: Political choices and value judgments made by public authorities.
Q: Why is criminal justice policy politically contested?
A: It reflects ideological debates about punishment, rehabilitation, and public safety.
💸 Costs and Privatization
Q: What is a key financial issue in managing corrections?
A: High operational costs—$323/day per inmate, funded by taxpayers.
Q: What is a concern about privatization in corrections?
A: Reduced accountability and public oversight.
📈 Incarceration Trends and Sentencing Stability
Q: Has Canada followed U.S.-style punitive trends?
A: No—Canada has generally resisted such trends, maintaining a stable incarceration rate.
Q: What role do courts play in Canadian sentencing?
A: Courts help maintain balance and guard against excessive punishment.
🛡 More Protective Factors (Detail)
Q: Why does centralized criminal law protect against punitive policies?
A: Limits provincial political influence over sentencing laws.
Q: Why does judicial appointment matter in Canada?
A: Appointed judges are independent and not swayed by public opinion or elections.
Q: Why can’t Canadian citizens create criminal law via ballot initiatives?
A: Canada does not allow citizen-led initiatives for federal criminal laws.
🧠 Cultural Attitudes
Q: What cultural value shapes Canada’s approach to crime?
A: Communitarianism—prioritizing collective responsibility and reintegration.
Q: What is the cultural view on punishment in Canada?
A: Skepticism that punishment alone reduces crime.
🔓 Parole: More Detail
Q: What are the two types of conditional release?
A:
Day parole: part-time supervised reintegration
Full parole: full-time release under conditions
Q: What is statutory release?
A: Automatic release after serving 2/3 of a sentence; not earned.
Q: Can parole be used to correct a sentence?
A: No—parole is for risk management, not sentence adjustment.
🚨 Problems with Parole Trends
Q: Why are parole grant rates declining?
A: Policy shifts toward custody-first models and tough-on-crime politics.
Q: What’s a risk of fewer parole grants?
A: Overreliance on statutory release, which offers less supervision planning.
🧪 Structured Intervention Units (SIUs): Evaluation
Q: What percentage of inmates in SIUs did not receive the full 4 hours out-of-cell?
A: 3 in 10.
Q: What percentage remained in isolation longer than 15 days?
A: 1 in 10.
Q: Why might SIUs still be considered solitary confinement?
A: They retain the same conditions with minimal oversight and no time limit.
📊 Structured Intervention Unit Data – Transfers
Q: What are the 3 most common reasons for SIU transfers?
A:
Safety of any person or institution
Risk to the inmate in general population
Interference with an investigation
🧾 Advisory Panel Critiques on SIUs
Q: What have advisory panels found about SIUs?
A:
Overused
Extended stays
Overrepresentation of inmates with mental illness
Failure to meet minimum contact and out-of-cell time