The solution is not new expensive maxi prisons. But that’s the intelligent argument, supported by experts in the field. Just more ammo for the anti-intellectual Conservatives. Plus, you know, mandatory minimum sentences and overcrowding jails with non-victim ‘criminals’ has worked so well south of the border.
Resolutions passed by the CBA governing council meeting Sunday urged accurate costing of government measures and the creation of a “safety valve” that would permit judges to shuck off the straitjacket of mandatory minimum sentences in cases where it would cause an injustice.
Conservative Justice Minister Rob Nicholson arrives Monday to face questioning at the hands of his legal confreres, whose skepticism promises sparks.
Mr. Nicholson will almost certainly be called upon to address prison overcrowding, a proliferation of mandatory minimums, a lack of community resources to handle mentally ill offenders who languish in jails and the cost of the Tories’ tough-on-crime policies.
