NCJ Number
84749
Journal
Correctional OPTIONS Volume: 2 Issue: 1 Dated: (Fall 1982) Pages: 83-98
Date Published
1982
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Steps already taken in Ontario (Canada) to reduce the disproportionate involvement of native peoples with the criminal justice system are described, and further steps that should be taken to bring significant improvement are presented.
Abstract
The Ontario Native Council on Justice was organized to make the criminal justice system more responsive to the special needs of native people involved in the criminal justice system and ultimately to diminish native involvement. Efforts of the Council have included (1) research on native inmates designed to increase understanding of the problems faced by native people and assist in their resolution; (2) the development of native inmate liaison projects, which are intended to reduce the rate of recidivism among native inmates; (3) assistance for a project that provides a community residential complex for native ex-inmates and their families; (4) assistance in the development of community service order projects; and (5) the initiation of a program to permit the payment of fines by means of credits earned through community service. The ultimate impact of these efforts, however, has not been great. Criminal justice officials and politicians must come to accept that the present system has failed native peoples, and a new commitment to the adoption of policies that will improve official response to the problems of native people must be undertaken. Native political leaders must also give higher priority to reforming the criminal justice system. Provincial and Federal governments must undertake strategies that will impact the socioeconomic conditions that tend to spawn deviant behavior among native people. Twelve footnotes are listed.