Canadian Justice System

• Course covers Women, Law, and Crime
• Classes are scheduled for January 6th and 8th

Objectives

• Course introduction
• Course syllabus overview
• Participate in Kahoot
• Introduction to Women, Law, and Crime

Syllabus

• Office hours are Mondays, 2-3 pm in RCE 251, or by appointment
• Teaching Assistants are Molly Phillips and Claire Rahija.
• Required textbook: Barker, J. & Tavcer, D.S. (2022). Women and the Criminal Justice System: A Canadian Perspective (Third Edition). Edmond Publishing
• Evaluation is based on:
  • Online Quizzes (15%): Due every second Monday by 4:00 pm, best 3 out of 5
  • Midterm (25%): Feb 12 in class
  • Media Assignment (30%): Due March 19
  • Final Take-Home Exam (30%)

Canadian Policing

• There are three tiers of policing:
  • Municipal
  • Provincial
  • Federal

Municipal Policing

• Features largest number of police officers in Canada
• There are 137 stand-alone organizations, mainly in Ontario with 44
• Governed by provincial police acts
• Size can range from small to large (Toronto Police, Vancouver Police, etc.)

Provincial Policing

• Only Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland have provincial police services
• Used in areas where RCMP or municipal police forces are not serving populations
• Shares similar mandates and responsibilities as per municipal police

Federal Police

• RCMP reports to minister of Public Safety
• Operates in some capacity in all provinces and territories under the RCMP Act
• Has 15 provincial/territorial divisions
• Training depot in Regina
• Ottawa headquarters
• Provides a range of services
  • Front line patrol
  • Criminal investigations
  • Federally mandated services

Indigenous Policing

• First Nations Policing Policy (FNPP) introduced in June 1991
• There are 2 types of policing agreements:
  • Self-Administered Police Service Agreements: First Nation or Inuit community manages own police service under provincial policing legislation and regulations
  • Community Tripartite Agreements: Officers from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police provide policing services to a First Nation or Inuit community (Public Safety Canada, 2022)

Provincial Courts

• Each province has its own provincial court, which is the first venue for criminal cases
• There are 3 court levels in each province:
  • Provincial and territorial courts handle a wide variety of cases from family law to most criminal cases
  • Superior Courts hear most serious criminal cases and all criminal trials with a jury
  • Courts of appeal review cases that come from provinces/territories' superior courts and work in similar fashion to Supreme Court of Canada

Provincial Speciality Courts

• Exists at provincial and territorial level
• Created to hear cases specific to one type of offense
• Intended to divert people away from CJS
• Examples include Toronto's Drug Treatment Court and Domestic Violence Courts

Federal Courts

• Hears cases involving claims against government and cases in federal areas
• Deals with immigration and citizenship
• Made up of specialized courts such as Tax Court and Military Court
• Federal Court of Appeal reviews decisions of federal tribunals

Supreme Court of Canada

• All courts fall under the Supreme Court
• Has authority over all private and public law
• No trials are held
• Hears cases from various appeal courts
• Made up of chief justice + 8 other judges, appointed by prime minister
• Longest service Chief Justice was Honourable Beverley Malachlin, first woman

Correctional System

• Consists of both federal and provincial services
• Females are incarcerated less than males
• In 2018-2020, 7.45% of federally incarcerated persons in Canada were female
• Due to small number of female offenders, female inmates were housed with males
• 1849: Brown commission report highlighted horrific living conditions and punishments at Kingston Penitentiary
• Inmate Charlotte Reveille was incarcerated for longer due to "weather", abused, tortured, and confined

Prison For Women (P4W)

• 1934: First women for prison (P4W) opened
• Many issues with the P4W:
  • Gendered rehabilitation programs
  • Hairdressing, housekeeping, cooking
  • Costly when less than 50 women were being housed at a timel
  • Problems with housing all women in one prison
  • Women were being housed too far from home
  • Lack of French programming
  • Indigenous women's needs not met
• 2000: P4W closed
• Task Force on Federally Sentenced Women (TFFSW) recommended its closure
• TFFSW main goal was to access the correctional management of women
• Women to be transferred to 5 regional facilities, including a healing lodge for Indigenous women

Prisons for Women

• Grand Valley Institution, Kitchener, Ontario
• Nova Institution, Nova Scotia
• Edmonton Institution, Alberta
• Joliette Institution, Quebec
• Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge, Saskatchewan

Statistics on Incarcerated Women

• Department of Justice Canada: 2020 Report on women in the Criminal Justice System
  • The number of women in federal corrections has increased by 20% since 2014/2015, despite the total number of offenders changing very little (+0.3%)
  • Despite representing only 4% of all women in Canada, Indigenous women made up 42% of women's admissions to provincial/territorial custody
  • Since 2007/2008, the number of Indigenous women admitted to provincial/territorial custody has increased dramatically, by 66%, compared to a decrease of 8% for non-Indigenous women

Criminalized Women

• 'Criminalized' describes individuals whose behaviors have been criminally sanctioned by law
• Race, class, gender and sexuality can affect the process of criminalization
• Crimes against the Person: 23% of women involved in the CJS were charged with crimes against the person
• Crimes against Property: 25.8% of women charged with a crime against property

Theft and Fraud

• Two most common crimes among women: Theft and Fraud
  • 27.3% of those convicted of theft are women
  • 28.1% of those convicted of fraud are women
• Reasoning: Economic needs of themselves and families
  • Ex: credit card fraud, shop lifting, passing bad cheques
• Some women are also charged with defrauding government agencies

Black Women, Fraud and Welfare

• In the 1980s and 1990s Black mother-blaming increased through Welfare Reform and the War on Drugs. This created a false narrative of "Welfare Queens"
• Black mothers are lazy, often drug-addicted, hypersexual, and careless parents
• Their primary goal is to evade work and lead lavish lifestyles funded by state benefits

Illicit Drugs

• Women are commonly charged with drug-related activities
• Drug related crimes driving under the influence, possession of drugs, trafficking, or importation
• From 1991 to 2014, drug related offences have increased 52%, despite Canada's crime rate decreasing

War on Drugs

• President Nixon launched strategies to combat drug use and distribution
• Canada followed suit with Harper's Safe Streets and Community Act
• Emily Murphy was a women's activist and one of the 'famous five' It is said she is the 'mother of marijuana criminalization'

Incarcerated Mothers issues

• Many incarcerated women are mothers
• Due to being primary caregivers, many children are placed into foster care or live with other family members
• Children separated from their mothers
• Women worry about their children, which causes stress
• Few women are allowed to have their children with them in prison

Mother-Child Program (MCP)

• Government-initiative program intended to keep families together
• Implemented in 2001 as part of shift in women's corrections
• Eligibility:
  • Minimum or medium security
  • No mental health issues or criminal charges against a child
  • Must have designated inmate babysitter
  • An alternate caregiver outside prison
• Criticisms

Coping Strategies

• Many women develop coping strategies when incarcerated due to stressors
• Coping strategy: any behavior that a person employs to deal with a difficult situation
• Some women commit criminal behavior to cope with abuse
• Self-injury
  • Self-injury among incarcerated women is high (around 24-38%)
  • Indigenous women account for 45.9% of all self-harm incidents in corrections
  • Suicide rates are 7% higher for incarcerated individuals

April 22nd Incident

• Women's prison riot, April 22, 1994
• Group of six women jumped officers outside the hospital area at P4W
• Many affected officers left their job
• Inmates participated in throwing food, verbally assaulting officers, slashing, attempted hostage taking, etc.
• Evening of April 26 – Warden of P4W called in a male institutional response team

The Ultimate Response – P4W Riot

https://curio.ca/en/catalog/746d7440-f617-4192-8b14-d6f8f21c4b82

• Discussion:
  • Do you believe women's rights were violated during the response?
  • What did the Warden do about the incident?
• Commission of Inquiry (Arbour Inquiry)

Creating Choices Report

• 1990 report released by Task Force on Federally Sentenced Women
• Highlights problems with correctional system
• Criticisms of report – failed to define the meaning and criteria of woman centeredness, and needs were still not met

Watchdog Groups

• Dedicated to ensuring rights are upheld within the CJS
• Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI) reviews policies of the CSC and complaints
• Citizen Advisory Committees (CAC's) allows public to contribute to quality of programs for incarcerated people
• Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies assists incarcerated women and girls and increase awareness of 'decarceration'

Reminders

• Required reading for next week is Chapter two
• Sign up for accessibility learning center if you need accommodations for course/exams
• Opt out deadline for textbook is Jan 13
• Office hours

Assess your knowledge of the Canadian Justice System. Questions cover courts, appeals, correctional systems, policing levels (RCMP and provincial), and challenges within the system. Covers key aspects of the legal framework in Canada.