Challenging the Justifications of the Criminal Justice Industry

• NCJ Number: 72409
• Author(s): B W Morse
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: Canada
• Note: From the fourth Canadian Conference on Applied Criminology - Proceedings, March 12, 13, 14, 1980, pages 278-287

Annotation

The content of Canadian criminal law, the nature and the methods by which the law is carried out, and the way in which society justifies its actions warrant serious attention and critical scrutiny.

Abstract

Six basic rationales used to justify the criminal law and criminal justice system are deterrence, rehabilitation, retribution or punishment, denunciation, protection, and as a broad statement reflecting society's values. In the last respect, criminal law cannot be shown to reflect the values of the present society, it is not understood, and it is losing its hold on the public's respect and support. Criminal law and the criminal justice system do not deter and do not rehabilitate, nor do they provide educational experience for the public, nor an opportunity for society to denounce criminal conduct through its agents. Society is frequently protected from many who pose no actual threat, while those who are serious threats are warehoused in such ways that they become greater threats upon their release. The criminal justice system overpunishes the offender in a manner which does not generate positive effects. The impact is felt particularly by the disadvantaged and native peoples. The real purpose of imprisonment as a mechanism of social control is to punish by restricting freedom of movement, and to protect society from extreme dangerousness through imposing a security system between the offender and the public. This does not mean removing all rights, freedoms, and the semblance of a humane environment, as is now the case. The Canadian Human Rights Commission does not even cover prisoners' rights. Alternatives to incarceration and community dispute resolutions must be developed, complaint systems for prisoners must be established, lawyers must offer legal aid to prisoners seeking redress, offenses not recognized as such by the public, must be decriminalized, and prisoners must be viewed first and foremost as fellow human beings with rights rather than dispensable privileges. Twenty-five footnotes are provided.