Prison
Continued From Page 1
system by putting even more people
behind bars. “Given the Harper
government’s hard-line approach
to incarceration, one wonders what
on earth they will do when they are
inundated with the huge increase
in prisoners that is bound to result.
They may just be foolish enough—
or desperate enough—to resort to
private prisons,” Backhouse said.
That’s not going to happen, at
least anytime soon. “The government of Canada is not considering
the privatization of federal prisons,” Jessica Slack, spokeswoman
for Public Safety Canada in
Ottawa, told The Lawyers Weekly.
Adam Goodman, a criminal
defence lawyer in Toronto,
believes there is another barrier
to private prisons in this country:
the constitution. “Prisoners still
have their Charter rights, which
only [apply] to people’s relationship with government. Would it
then be the responsibility of individual companies to uphold
Charter rights? This is a worrisome question,” he said.
Implicit in that question is the
value Canadians place on consti-
tutional rights, and why private
prisons might well be anathema
in this country. “This is an area
where Charter rights are para-
mount,” Goodman said. “It’s a fair
implication that these rights
aren’t that important if we pass
them off to someone else.”
In 2001, Ontario did just
that. The provincial govern-
ment, under the leadership of
Correctional Services Minister
Robert Sampson, opened the
first private prison in the coun-
try, a 1,200-inmate superjail in
Penetanguishene. Five years
later it was shut down in the
wake of allegations that prison-
ers’ health was worse, their
recidivism rates were higher and
security was worse.
A faculty of
bright lights.
And Fulbrights...
Talented academics, skilful lawyers, and dedicated teachers:
We have an outstanding faculty at the Schulich School of Law.
A case in point: Professor Vaughan Black joins a distinguished
group of scholars as the Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in
Transborder Studies at Arizona State University this term.
Drawing on his background as an advisor to Canada’s Department of Justice, Professor Black will research the potential for a
cross-border enforcement treaty of court judgments between
Canada, the US, and Mexico.
Congratulations and warm wishes from Halifax, Vaughan! We
look forward to your return.
law.dal.ca
Given the increasing numbers
of inmates and the aging infrastructure, private prisons may
look attractive. That appears to be
the situation in the United States.
At present, the U.S. puts more
people in jail—both per capita
and in absolute terms—than any
other nation in the world.
people in jail. These are not com-
panies really concerned with ser-
vice and branding.”
Private prisons are relatively
new to modern America. Virtu-
ally non-existent until the early
1980s, they are now a common
part of the legal landscape in the
U.S. having increased by approxi-
Survey says bail on jail
A survey conducted over the summer by the Los Angeles Times and the
University of California’s Dornsife College found that, when it came to keeping
their money or keeping more prisoners convicted of property crimes,
Californians opted for the former.
Last May, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state had to release more
than 33,000 inmates to ease prison overcrowding. About 73 per cent of
Californians subsequently surveyed were against increasing taxes to build
new prisons or relocating prisoners; only 23 per cent were in favour.
Sixty-two per cent of those surveyed said life sentences for property crime
offenders convicted under California’s three-strike law should be reduced.
These include individuals convicted of such offences as burglary, auto theft,
and shoplifting.
Overall, 69 per cent of those polled supported the early release of non-violent
offenders, with 33 per cent favouring it “strongly.”— Donalee Moulton
“Between 1970 and 2005, the
number of people incarcerated
in the United States grew by 700
per cent. Today, the United
States incarcerates approximately 2. 3 million people,” David
Shapiro, ACLU staff attorney
and author of Banking on Bondage, stated in the 55-page report.
“According to the Congressional
Research Service, the United
States has only five per cent of
the world’s population but a full
25 per cent of its prisoners.
“Leading private prison com-
panies essentially admit that their
business model depends on high
rates of incarceration,” he added.
“For example, in a 2010 annual
report filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, Cor-
rections Corporation of America
(CCA), the largest private prison
company, stated: ‘The demand for
our facilities and services could be
adversely affected by…leniency in
conviction or parole standards
and sentencing practices…’ ”
“I don’t find that surprising,”
Goodman said. “[Private pris-
ons] are going to want to keep
mately 1,600 per cent between
1990 and 2009, the Bondage
report stated. “Today, for-profit
companies are responsible for
approximately 6 per cent of state
prisoners, 16 per cent of federal
prisoners, and, according to one
report, nearly half of all immi-
grants detained by the federal
government. In 2010, the two lar-
gest private prison companies
alone received nearly $3-billion
[U.S.] in revenue.”
Shapiro told The Lawyers
Weekly there are also concerns
about the quality of care incarcer-
ated individuals receive in private
prisons, but as he documented in
his report, the data is less conclu-
sive in this area. Private facilities
have also been linked to “atro-
cious conditions,” Shapiro wrote.
“In a juvenile facility in Texas, for
example, auditors reported that
cells ‘were filthy, smelled of feces
and urine.’ ”
Again, Goodman is not sur-
prised. “The role of these com-
panies is to make money. It seems
logical to assume they would cut
corners to make that money.”
A senior executive at Com-
munity Education Centers
(CEC), a private prison oper-
ator based in West Caldwell,
N.J., dismissed the findings in
the ACLU report, calling it
“pretty poorly researched” and
“shoddy work.”
“Over the past decade, New
Jersey’s prison population has
declined by more than 20 per
cent…and the state’s recidivism
rate reduction…is the best in the
northeast and top five in the
nation,” William Palatucci, senior
vice-president and general coun-
sel, told The Lawyers Weekly.
Camps don’t have same views
Duty
Continued From Page 7
adverse effect on representation.”
The FLSC’s new model rule
2.04(1) imposes a general duty
on lawyers not to act, or con-
tinue to act, where there is a
“conflict of interest,” defined as
“the existence of a substantial
risk that a lawyer’s loyalty to or
representation of a client would
be materially and adversely
affected by the lawyer’s own
interest or the lawyer’s duties to
another client, a former client,
or a third person.”
The accompanying commen-
tary creates an exception per-
mitting a lawyer to act for some-
one against a current client in
an unrelated matter where there
is express or implied consent
from all clients, and the lawyer
reasonably believes that he or
she is able to represent each
client without there being any
material adverse effect upon
either the representation of, or
the loyalty to, the clients.
The commentary further stipulates that “the rule reflects the principle articulated by the Supreme
Court of Canada…regarding conflicting interests involving current
clients, that a lawyer must not
represent one client whose legal
interests are directly adverse to the
immediate legal interests of
another client without consent.
This duty arises even if the matters
are unrelated.” n
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