Jail supposed to help fix people
Like almost every quote, this one is misattributed to Winston Churchill, but Fyodor Dostoyevsky once said: “The degree of civilization in a society is revealed by entering its prisons.”
I won’t say I’m surprised anymore by the callousness of commenters and armchair justice system reformist who seem confused or angry that prisoners have rights every time a story breaks of a lawsuit coming out of the Okanagan Correctional Centre. I’m just disappointed.
For those who continually purport the let them-rot-agenda, it’s a lazy opinion that avoids the real complexities of the system.
More than half of adults in Canadian jails are not serving sentences, they are awaiting trial. Or, in simpler terms, presumed innocent.
People seem to naturally have a hard time with the presumption of innocence, and the optics are hard to overcome for anyone accused of a crime. There is also an abundance of the incorrect opinion that being on bail is somehow a get-out-of-jail-free card. Individuals on bail are on restrictions, are sometimes monitored and would only dig their hole deeper should they get up to anything nefarious. It’s not a cake walk or free pass. Rehabilitation is cited by almost every judge in nearly every sentencing hearing I’ve sat in on. It’s one of the many purposes of sentencing they consider.
I would argue rehabilitation is more important, in some cases, than incarceration. I’m thankful our justice system is not run by the torch-and-pitchfork, death-penalty types.
I do wonder how the toughon-crime-leaning individuals reconcile the costs of keeping people in jail for long amounts of time. It is expensive.
You say let them rot, well sure, but your tax dollars are now paying for their three meals a day and any other expenses incurred to keep prisoners alive.
It’s much cheaper to have someone serve their time and come out rehabilitated and contributing to society.
It’s easy to be fearful and much tougher to face reality objectively and even more difficult to explore solutions that don’t play out like the black-and-white justice of 70s cop d ramas or an episode of “Law and Order.”
It has become obvious the Oliver prison is not the bright and shiny economic driver that was sold to us by the province (with an incorrect price tag).
I’d dig into that a little more, but the province seems to believe an international, private company is more deserving of protection than the Canadian taxpayers who are footing the bill.
Suzanne Anton, attorney general of the day said the prison “reflects our government’s commitment to enhance public safety.”
It has not. Extra RCMP were brought on in Oliver and they have seen an increase in criminal files generated in the area that are OCC-related — and lawsuits abound.
What’s more, the local courthouse is already finding it tough to deal with the trial of an alleged stabbing of two inmates by another OCC inmate and the logistics of having them testify together in the same room.
A federal bill is hoping to put in some fixes to Canadian justice. Changes include getting rid of a lot of preliminary inquires and abolishing preemptory challenges on jurors.
The bill hasn’t been debated in Parliament as of yet, but change is needed. So instead of commenting “this is ridiculous” under every crime story in the Okanagan Valley, maybe do something more progressive. Research, call your representative, let them know what changes you’d like to see in the justice system. Just do something other than give up on your fellow human beings in impotent, all-caps tirades.
Dale Boyd is a reporter at the Penticton Herald