Rehabilitation vs Punishment: Canada's stunning connection to the American prison reform debate
The number of black prisoners has increased in Canada due to institutional racism, according to the director of Human Rights Services at Ryerson University.
Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. (ABC News/Google Images)
There is a mass incarceration problem in Canada amongst African Canadians who are dehumanized in prison cells and face discrimination from police officers.
“This legal system is incredibly unfair and unjust, the government can eradicate the cannabis conviction criminal record of the individuals who have cannabis simple possession on their record”, said Annamaria Enenajor, a lawyer who specializes in criminal defence.
She explained why the government should be updating former inmates criminal record status to reflect the current laws and regulations. The current path makes it harder for past criminals to get employment as their record still lists the drug offence labeling them as dangerous.
“It is now legal, so they are being punished for some crime that is no longer in effect,” added Enenjajor.
Cannabis Law Changes
Cannabis in Canada is legal for both recreational and medicinal purposes. The Health Canada says “the cannabis act is designed to better protect the health and safety of Canadians, to keep cannabis out of the hands of youth and to keep profits out of the hands of criminals and organized crime.”
You must be 19 years old to consume to buy, use, possess, and grow. Public consumption laws are the same as tobacco in the province, meaning many public areas are off limits. There’s a four-plant limit per household.
“Cannabis arrests are a gateway to the criminal justice system, as it introduces individuals to law enforcement and criminalizes them. It penalizes them for things we know our white peers are doing on a daily basis without any consequences,” said Enenjajor.
Four times more likely to be locked up in prison
Toni De Mello is the director of Human Rights at Ryerson University and a lawyer focusing on discrimination and sexual violence cases.
Human Rights Services works with members of the Ryerson community to promote a study, work and living environment free of discrimination and harassment.
“From 2003 and 2013, 10 years the number of black prisoners in Canada has increased every single year, growing by over 90 per cent in that period of time, while the number of white prisoners have actually declined,” said De Mello.
“What the data has shown us is that the application of cannabis laws throughout Canada in the past have resulted in a hugely disproportionate negative impact on African Canadians and Indigenous communities,” said Enenjajor.
“In Toronto, if you are black you are four times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than if you're white,” said Enenjajor.
Moka Dawkins has a lived experience of incarceration. She shed light on the injustices against black transgender sex workers. She held back tears and past trauma as law enforcement members had tried to physically abuse her.
“I was blessed because I come from the ghettos and I know how to fight so I was able to defend myself against correctional officers,” said Dawkins.
Life Sentences For Minor Drug Offences
In the United States the prison sentences for black drug offenders are more oppressive than punishments for those black offenders living in Canada. They are being criminalized by white police officers who use brutality and violence against them . The judges give unfair sentences to minorities, especially black people as the legal system was created to criminalize minorities and give authority to white police officers. They often abuse their power and stereotype races.
Law enforcement needs bias training to be able to respond to situations where the suspect is of a different skin colour or religion. Discrimination occurs when police arrest an individual or suspect that they think commited a crime based on their skin colour. The trial is then full of racist biases instead of facts, theory and evidence.
“Implicit bias” exists when we unconsciously hold attitudes towards others or associate stereotypes with them. For example, we often harbor negative stereotypes about others without consciously realizing that we do so. Unarmed victims of police killings are more likely to be minorities. An analysis of the available FBI data by Dara Lind for Vox, found that US police kill black people at disproportionate rates: Black people accounted for 31 percent of police killing victims in 2012, even though they made up just 13 percent of the US population.
These disparities in police use of force reflect more widespread racial inequities across the entire American criminal justice system. Black people are much more likely to be arrested for drugs, even though they’re not more likely to use or sell them. And black inmates make up a disproportionate amount of the prison population.
CNN states that Alice Marie Johnson was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for a first-time non-violent drug offence. She was a black woman trying to make an income for her kids.
After Johnson was behind bars for almost 22 years, Kim Kardashian, a reality television star became an advocate for prison reform and in June of 2018 President Donald Trump officially granted Johnson clemency.
Enenjajor told the Ryerson School Of Journalism that “in Canada we don’t have life without the possibility of parole and our drug sentences our harsh but thy aren't as harsh as the United States. However, cocaine cases such as this one are taken very seriously because it is a dangerous drug to possess,” when asked about her feelings about Johnson’s discriminatory life sentence case.
Kardashian Studying Criminal Law
Kardashian created a documentary for justice and prison reform. It features four cases, including a sex trafficking victim and a woman who murdered the family member who molested her. Each of them believes they received unfair sentences.
Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, improve the effectiveness of a penal system, or implement alternatives to incarceration.
“Once you hear the circumstances that led them to make those decisions, your heart would completely open up,” Kardashian told The Associated Press in January.
She is currently studying to become a lawyer through an apprenticeship with a law firm . Her true crime documentary “The Justice Project” will air on Apr. 5, 2020 on the Oxygen Network.
On Jun. 13, 2019 Kardashian was welcomed by Donald Trump for the launch of an initiative to help former inmates gain employment after leaving prison. The reality star announced a ride share partnership that will give formerly incarcerated people gift cards, to use towards transportation to and from job interviews and locations of employment.
Many in the legacy media criticized her political endeavors calling it a publicity stunt. However, to myself, it is clear that Kardashian actually cares about justice reform, as she is the one who brought the cases of former inmates to the White House.
Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project Airs Sunday, April 5th | Oxygen
Politics Of Humanitarian Causes - Hypocrisy Of Donald Trump
Donald Trump is campaigning on criminal justice reform that reduces sentences for non-violent offenders. In his re-election and marketing strategies to gain positive publicity amongst voters . Politicians often lie or boast about the humanitarian causes that they care about or policies they would like to introduce, however it is a red flag warning when politicians have already made contradicting statements in the past.
Trump has a harsh opinion towards people who possess dangerous drugs and are a part of the drug trafficking illegal business.
Trump suggested he’d like to structure the American criminal law of drug dealing on authoritarian systems like China, where dealers are executed .
Trump said “countries with a powerful death penalty, with a fair but quick trial , they have very little if any drug problem, that includes China.”
The issue with his statement is that drugs are prevalent in China in spite of the harsh punishments that Trump highlighted. The legal system and trialing of people charged with drug crimes is already unfair with many of them given life sentences. By implying the death penalty and quick trials Trump is making the legal system even more broken for prisoners instead of working on the flaws of the court and law enforcement. If judges can’t give a reasonable punishment within a long and comprehensive trial process how can they work in intense pressures of a shorter court duration?
Bernie Sanders Approach To Prison Reform: A Better Way Forward
Unlike Trump Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders was an early critic of mass incarceration — and now has a plan to fight it.
The proposal covers a variety of issues, including reeling back long prison sentences, ending cash bail, improving oversight of police, boosting public defenders, legalizing marijuana, and banning private, for-profit prisons.
Donald Trump can boast about his Super Bowl commercial and how he granted clemency to former inmates, he however lacks a logical approach to actually fixing the criminal justice system. Trump is merely using these humanitarian initiatives to re-brand his figure as a politician. It is propaganda and he is trying to use the same policies and platform promises like his competitors such as Sanders.
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