The pandemic has offered a look at prison reform possibilities
Our Editorial: A quarter of all adult inmates in provincial prisons have been released since March and there’s been no noticeable crime uptick in said provinces. So, why not adopt these policies permanently?
December 15, 2020 The Bowden Institution medium security facility near Bowden, Alta. Government medical professionals say Canada s jails and prisons don t meet with physical distancing guidelines for COVID-19 and they want as many inmates as possible to be released (Jeff McIntosh/CP)
The chance of becoming infected with COVID-19 in prison is 13 times higher than for the general public, a fact that raises many legal and ethical issues. “A prison sentence should not also sentence you to greater risk of disease,” advises Adelina Iftene, a law professor at Halifax’s Dalhousie University and associate director of the school’s Health Law Institute. “The state has a very serious responsibility to protect th