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While the federal Conservative minority government
continues to clamour for mandatory minimum sentences (for gun-related
crimes, assault, robbery and impaired driving), several U.S.
jurisdictions are moving away from that practice, which is deemed costly
and ineffective. Michigan, which spends more on incarceration than
higher education, has eased such laws and California plans to free 22,000
non-violent convicts before their release date to relieve overcrowding
and save more than $1 billion.
A legacy of U.S. jail-mania is a prison system where
African Americans comprise nearly half of all inmates, yet are only 13
per cent of the country’s population. When governments emphasize
the results (rather than the causes) of crime, groups already over
represented in prisons bear the brunt of the attack.
The U.S. has the world's highest incarceration rate
(723 per 100,000 population, excluding youth). But Canada is
seventh (with 107 per 100,000) on a list behind the U.S., New Zealand and
several countries of western Europe.
In Canada, aboriginal people make up 19 per cent of
federal prisoners but just 3.8 per cent of the population. African
Canadians are 7 per cent of all inmates, compared to 2.5 per cent of the
population.
What else do provincial and federal crime data tell
us? Certain socio-economic factors and crime go together like
thunder and lightning. Neighbourhoods where incomes are low and
services are few have the highest levels of jailed residents.
Sixty-five per cent of offenders test lower than a Grade 8 education when
they enter prison, and 70 per cent who enter prison have unstable job
histories.
While the case is clearly made that improving social
conditions is the most effective way to reduce crime, the capitalist
governments in Ottawa and the provinces have chosen to spend many
millions more locking people up.
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