No, Longer Prison Sentences do not Reduce Crime

On September 16, 2022 over 70 criminologists, social scientists, legal experts and civil society organizations released a letter responding to a recent article on “prolific offenders”, dismissing it as factually inaccurate and misleading. The text of the open letter, co-authored by Nicole Myers and Abby Deshman, is below. Many thanks to those who provided comments and edits on early drafts. If you would like to add your name to the letter please email adeshman@ccla.org.

Experts’ Open Letter in Response to a Recent CBC Article

 

On September 15, 2022 a CBC article claimed that “experts” support handing out “longer jail sentences” in order to reduce crime and respond to “prolific offenders”. As experts in criminology, sociology, and law we feel it is our obligation to clearly and decisively reject this assertion. Decades of research from Canada and comparable jurisdictions like the United States, United Kingdom and Australia has shown that longer prison sentences do not reduce crime.

The following points, all supported by a wealth of peer-reviewed academic research, directly contradict explicit assertions and implicit assumptions in the article:

• Lengthy prison sentences do not deter individuals (specific deterrence) or others (general deterrence) from committing crimes. There is some evidence that certainty of capture and sanction may impact behaviour. A position paper from the federal Department of Justice summarizes the evidence nicely: severity of punishment – i.e., longer prison sentences – does not deter people from committing crimes.
• There is no reliable way to predict who will go on to commit crimes in general, or serious, violent acts in particular, in the future. On the contrary, research has shown that attempts to make such predictions are unreliable and discriminatory, especially against Indigenous peoples, Black people, other racialized communities, and women.
• Research shows that sending someone to prison – whether before trial or after sentencing – increases the likelihood that they will be charged with and convicted of a crime in the future. There are many reasons for this. Half of those sentenced to federal prison have histories of trauma and childhood abuse. Prison conditions are harsh, and people often leave with further physical and emotional scars that they are ill-equipped to deal with. Treatment for mental illness and problematic substance use behind bars is abysmal.  Removing individuals from the broader community is intensely destabilizing and tears apart families and support networks, significantly increasing the risk that a legacy of trauma will be passed on to another generation.
• The suggestion that individuals need to be sentenced to longer prison terms to benefit from programming is false. Research consistently shows that programming is more effective if it is delivered while a person is in the community rather than behind bars. Community programming can also be provided at a fraction of the cost.
• Regardless of sentence length, there is no guarantee that people will be able to access appropriate, effective programming in custody. Programming is almost non-existent in many provincial jails. Even in federal institutions tailored programming is lacking, wait lists for the programs that do exist are long, and there are many barriers that prevent individuals from participating.
• Most people leaving prison have no further contact with the justice system. The people the public is most concerned about (typically those who committed violent crimes) are the least likely to reoffend. If an individual does come into contact with the criminal system again, it is likely to be for a minor, non-violent offence or a breach of a court order.
• Contrary to the assertion in the article, our criminal legal system does consider individuals’ criminal record during sentencing, taking into account not only the specific incident they were found guilty of but also their broader history and any patterns of behaviour when determining a fit sentence.

By the Canadian government’s own measures crime in Canada generally, and in British Columbia specifically, is at historic lows. Despite this, over the past few months there has been an ongoing public discussion in British Columbia about a perceived rise in crime and the role of the criminal justice system. The British Columbia Assistant Deputy Attorney General, in a detailed response to public concerns, called attention to the negative impact of “uninformed or inaccurate public statements.” It is ironic, and deeply concerning, that an article that quotes this very statement would then go on to propagate so-called “expert” information that is, quite simply, false.

In short, prisons and lengthy prison sentences do not prevent crime and are not the means to achieve community safety. Individuals experiencing poverty, mental illness, the criminalization of drug use, and/or homelessness are among the communities that are often subjected to the most intense scrutiny and surveillance by police, making them far more likely to be arrested. Most crime in Canada is related to property offences, administration of justice charges (such as not complying with a court order), and drug-related activity, all of which tend to be tied to structural factors which could be better addressed through other means. Increasing reliance on the criminal legal system and prisons to respond to the crises of inter-generational trauma, homelessness, substance use and the drug toxicity crisis, and the failure of our mental health system will only exacerbate the underlying problems.

 

Signatories:

Nicole Myers, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Queen’s University

Abby Deshman, Director, Criminal Justice Program, Canadian Civil Liberties Association

Debra Parkes, Professor & Chair in Feminist Legal Studies, Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia

Jennifer Metcalfe, Executive Director, Prisoners’ Legal Services

Jane Sprott, Professor, Criminology, Toronto Metropolitan University

Catherine Latimer, Executive Director, John Howard Society of Canada

Vivian Sim, Articling Fellow, John Howard Society of Canada

Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto

Emilie Coyle, Executive Director, Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies

Alexander McClelland, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Carleton University

Alex Luscombe, PhD Candidate, Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto

Dawn Moore, Professor, Department of Law and Legal Studies, Carleton University

Tom Engel, President, Canadian Prison Law Association

Sonia Lawrence, Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University

Lara Karaian, Associate Professor, Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Carleton University

Sheila Wildeman, Associate Professor, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University

Michael Jackson K.C. Emeritus Professor of Law, Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia

Marianne Quirouette, Assistant Professor, School of Criminology, Université de Montréal

Jeffrey Hartman, Hartman Law Prison Lawyers, PhD Student, Carleton University, Department of Law & Legal Studies

Robin Whitehead, Assistant Professor, Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, Lakehead University

Tonia Grace, Barrister and Solicitor, Grace, Snowdon & Terepocki LLP, Abbotsford, BC

Stacey Hannem, Professor, Department of Criminology, Wilfrid Laurier University

Jennifer M. Kilty, Professor, Department of Criminology, University of Ottawa

Kathryn Ferreira, Director, Queen’s Prison Law Clinic

Paul Quick, Lawyer, Queen’s Prison Law Clinic

John L Hill, Barrister &Solicitor (Ret.); Author of Pine Box Parole: Terry Fitzsimmons and the Quest to End Solitary Confinement

Emily van der Meulen, Professor, Department of Criminology, Toronto Metropolitan University

Patrick G. Watson, Adjunct Professor of Criminology, Wilfrid Laurier University

Victoria A. Sytsma, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Queen’s University

Shiri Pasternak, Assistant Professor, Criminology, Toronto Metropolitan University

Chris Bruckert, Professor, Department of Criminology, University of Ottawa

Jamie Livingston, Associate Professor, Department of Criminology, Saint Mary’s University

Michael Mihalicz, Assistant Professor, Entrepreneurship & Strategy, Toronto Metropolitan University

Katrin Roots, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology, Wilfrid Laurier University

Maria Jung, Assistant Professor, Criminology, Toronto Metropolitan University

Matthew G. Yeager, Ph.D., Criminologist & Professor Emeritus, Department of Sociology, King’s University College at Western University

Irina Ceric, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor

Benjamin L. Berger, Professor and York Research Chair in Pluralism and Public Law, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University

Diane Crocker, Professor, Department of Criminology, Saint Mary’s University

Vicki Chartrand, Professor, Sociology Department, Bishop’s University, Sherbrooke QC

Linda Mussell, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Ottawa

Jillian Rogin, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor

Pierre Cloutier de Repentigny, Assistant Professor, Department of Law and Legal Studies, Carleton University

Pierre Hawkins, Public Legal Counsel, John Howard Society of Saskatchewan

Howard Sapers, former federal Correctional Investigator and Visiting Professor at the Department of Criminology, University of Ottawa

El Jones, Assistant Professor, Department of Political and Canadian Studies, Mount Saint Vincent University

Alexa Dodge, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology, Saint Mary’s University

Line Beauchesne, Professor, Criminology Department, University of Ottawa

Meenakshi Mannoe, Criminalization & Policing Campaigner, Pivot Legal Society

James F Popham, Associate Professor, Department of Criminology, Wilfrid Laurier University

Justin Piché, Associate Professor, Department of Criminology, University of Ottawa

Tyson Singh Kelsall, RSW, PhD Student SFU Faculty of Health Sciences & sessional instructor, University of Victoria

Marie Manikis, Associate Professor and William Dawson Scholar, Faculty of Law, McGill University

Mary E. Campbell, Retired Director General, Corrections & Criminal Justice, Public Safety Canada

Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Co-Executive Director, HIV Legal Network

Philip Kaisary, Associate Professor, Department of Law & Legal Studies, Carleton University

Donna Baines, Professor and Former Director, School of Social Work, UBC

Aaron Doyle, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Carleton University

Adelina Iftene, Associate Professor, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University

Jake Seaby Palmour, RSW, Graduate Student UBC Musqueam Lands

Ron Melchers, retired, Department of Criminology, University of Ottawa

Allison Hearns, Articled Clerk, Nova Scotia Legal Aid

Graham Stewart, MSW, Executive Director (retired), John Howard Society of Canada

Lisa Kelly, Assistant Professor, Queen’s University, Faculty of Law

Joshua Sealy-Harrington, Assistant Professor, Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Toronto Metropolitan University

Meghan McDermott, Policy Director, BC Civil Liberties Association

Emma Trottier, Criminology Instructor, Capilano University

Samantha McAleese, Adjunct Research Professor, Department of Sociology, Carleton University

Jeff Shantz, Department of Criminology, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey

Jonathan Shapiro, Senior Instructor, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University

Amy Carter, Barrister & Solicitor, Grace, Snowdon & Terepocki LLP

George S. Rigakos, Professor of the Political Economy of Policing, Carleton University

Nicholas Blomley, Professor, Simon Fraser University

Baljit Nagra, Associate Professor, Department of Criminology, University of Ottawa

Steve Fineberg, retired from the Quebec Bar

David Henry, Directeur général, criminologue, Association des services de réhabilitation sociale du Québec

Maritza Felices-Luna, Associate Professor. Department of Criminology, University of Ottawa

Justin EC Tetrault, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Law, Crime, and Justice Studies, University of Alberta Augustana

Sandra Bucerius, Professor of Sociology and Criminology, H.M. Tory Chair, Director Centre for Criminological Research, Department of Sociology, University of Alberta

Sidra Hashmi, PhD Student, Department of Sociology, Queen’s University

Susan Haines, Executive Director, The National Associations Active in Criminal Justice (NAACJ)

Sandra Lehalle, Associate Chair, Associate Professor, Department of Criminology University of Ottawa

Michelle Y. Williams, Assistant Professor, Schulich School of Law, Co-Chair, Dalhousie African Nova Scotian Strategy

Sulaimon Giwa, Endowed Chair in Criminology and Criminal Justice, St. Thomas University, and Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador

Leslie H. Morley, Morley Law Office, past President of the Canadian Prison Law Association, Kingston Employment & Youth Services (KEYS) & Frontenac Law Association

David Honeyman, Barrister and Solicitor, Grace, Snowdon & Terepocki LLP

C. Tess Sheldon, Assistant Professor, University of Windsor Faculty of Law

Rachel B. Zellars, Assistant Professor and Senior Research Fellow (Canada Research Chair recipient), Department of Social Justice and Community Studies, Saint Mary’s University

Melissa Munn, Okanagan College

Marie-Eve Sylvestre, Full Professor, Faculty of Law, Civil Law Section, University of Ottawa

Kanika Samuels-Wortley, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology , Toronto Metropolitan University

Paula Maurutto, Associate Professor, Criminology, Law and Society Program, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto  Mississauga

Lisa Kerr, Associate Professor, Queen’s University, Faculty of Law

Jenny Reid, lawyer

Tammy Landau, Associate Professor, Department of Criminology, Toronto Metropolitan University

Joao Velloso, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa

Bastien Quirion, Full Professor, Department of Criminology, University of Ottawa

Marsha Rampersaud, Assistant Professor, Law and Society Program, York University

Irving Kulik, Executive Director, Canadian Criminal Justice Association

Anita Desai, Executive Director, St. Leonard’s Society of Canada

Amy Spendik, Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator, Policing and Community Well-Being Program, Trent University Durham

Alyssa Leblond, PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology, Queen’s University

Rowan Burdge, Provincial Director, BC Poverty Reduction Coalition

John W. Conroy KC, Conroy & Company, Barrister & Solicitor

George Myette, National Executive Director, 7th Step Society of Canada

Ashley Carver, Associate Professor, Department of Criminology, Saint Mary’s University

Luca Berardi, Assistant Professor of Sociology, McMaster University

Mara Selanders, Policy Staff Counsel (Community), BC Civil Liberties Association

Patrick Dwyer, Faculty of Liberal Studies, Durham College

Union of BC Indian Chiefs