NCJ Number
139224
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology Volume: 34 Issue: 3-4 Dated: special issue (July-October 1992) Pages: 525-532
Date Published
1992
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This study looked at the unequal treatment of native people by Canada's criminal justice system by examining the issuance of temporary absences (TA's) from Federal correctional facilities.
Abstract
TA's are generally granted to offenders so they can leave an institution for periods ranging from a few hours to several days. Purposes for which TA's are granted include medical, administrative, and compassionate reasons and family and community contact. Compassionate and family and community contact TA's were analyzed since these were determined to be the most sensitive to differential treatment of offenders. Data were obtained from computer files maintained by the Correctional Service of Canada on all TA's for the 5-year period from fiscal years 1986/87 through 1990/91. On average, 54,000 TA's were granted each year during this period, of which 46,000 were escorted. Analysis results indicated that native offenders received more than the expected number of compassionate and family and community contact TA's. This suggested that native offenders are not discriminated against by correctional decisionmakers. 4 references, 1 note, and 4 figures