NCJ Number
193942
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 64 Issue: 1 Pages: 46-48,67
Date Published
2002
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article examines Correctional Service Canada’s (CSCs) strategy to support community corrections.
Abstract
The rate of growth of in the offender population in the late 1980's and early 1990's in Canada, especially among Aboriginal offenders, called for a strategy for containing inmate growth and the associated costs. Ministers responsible for justice faced a choice: shift toward a crime control and punishment policy or devise a method combining crime prevention, tough treatment of serious crime, and greater use of community sanctions for low-risk offenders. The Ministers chose the latter approach. The legislative centerpiece of the response was Bill C-41, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code, passed by Canada’s parliament in 1995. One of the most novel aspects of Bill C-41 was the creation of a new sentencing option—the conditional sentence of imprisonment. Under the conditional sentence (less than 2 years), the offender is permitted to serve in the community under mandatory and optional conditions. It is designed to be a nonincarceration for otherwise prison-bound offenders and may be ordered when: the offense is not punishable by a minimum term of incarceration; the court imposes a sentence of less than 2 years; and the court is satisfied that allowing the offender to serve the sentence in the community would not endanger the safety of the community. On January 31, 2000, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered a landmark decision on the use of conditional sentences, which said that conditional sentences were generally preferable to incarceration when a combination of punitive and rehabilitative objectives could be achieved. This article also contains information on the effect of Bill C-41 on the payment of fines and probation. The corrections population control initiatives that began in 1995 have begun to show results. The huge increase in the prison populations experienced in the early 1990's has been reversed. In addition, Canadians appear to be satisfied with the justice system. References