Tough on crime is hard on all of us

Last week, the latest “tough on crime” bill was passed by the House of Commons. Bill C-15 imposes mandatory minimum sentences for drug users. Previous “tough on crime” bills have introduced mandatory minimum sentences for other offences, including gun crimes, eliminated conditional sentencing for others, raised the age of sexual consent and cracked down on street racing and drug impaired driving.

While the Conservative and Liberal members of parliament have come under criticism for voting in favour of the most recent bill, all of the four major political parties have voted for and proposed such “tough on crime” measures recently. In the last two elections, parties have competed to seem tough on crime, ramping up the rhetoric and referring to crises of violence in Canada.

Given that the crime rate in Canada is actually at a 30 year low, and violent crime is in steady decline, what does “tough on crime” really mean? And does “tough on crime” really work?

“Tough on crime” approaches are a punitive approach to justice. They emphasize retributive justice – when someone commits a crime, they have incurred a debt to society that can be paid through their incarceration. The result is a system that focuses on incarceration in prisons, based on a decision made through an adversarial court process. Offenders are discouraged from taking responsibility for their actions or making amends. The concerns and needs of victims are secondary to the process. And the system does not provide rehabilitation for offenders, which results in high rates of repeat offending.

The Church Council on Justice and Corrections, an ecumenical coalition founded by 11 Canadian churches, has monitored criminal justice for over three decades. Based on their experience, they are convinced that “more incarceration will not better assist victims of crime and keep our communities safer.” They believe that better results could be achieved with a lower financial and social cost if we were willing to redirect our approach.

Similarly, CPJ member Henry Smidstra, writing for the Catalyst, has referred to the “revolving door of the justice system” which sees people spend repeated time in jail. It is not short sentences or a “soft” prison system that create the revolving door, according to Smidstra, but rather “the lack of community, and the lack of support and mutual accountability is a big part of the problem.”

Canadian prison populations include a disproportionate number of poor people and minorities, especially Aboriginal peoples. An increasing proportion of prison inmates also have mental illnesses, learning disabilities and personality disorders. Many of them are self-medicating with drugs to deal with physical and emotional challenges, and as a result commit crimes either while on drugs or for drugs. Still others are ghettoized in crime-ridden areas because they can’t afford adequate housing or because they have the stigma of being an “ex-con.”

The retributive justice approach punishes these already marginalized people by removing them from society. There is no rehabilitation or community support to help them to live differently.

There is no doubt that crime is harmful; it hurts victims, communities and the offenders themselves. Some crimes need to be dealt with by imprisonment. But there is another approach that emphasizes reparation and restoration rather than punishment. Restorative justice promotes the healing of everyone involved and allows the offender to take responsibility and make amends.

Restorative justice approaches include mediation, community meetings, community service, reparations and restitution. It enables victims, communities and offenders to be involved in responding to the crime. Evidence suggests that compared to traditional criminal justice approaches, restorative justice can reduce post traumatic stress symptoms for victims, reduce the costs of justice and reduce repeat offending. Examples of restorative justice practices that already take place in Canada include Aboriginal Sentencing Circles and Circles of Support.

How we deal with the most vulnerable and marginalized among us really reveals who we are as a people. While issues of crime and hurtful behaviours touch an emotional chord that can make us react with fear, we need to be sure that we still respond in ways that are consistent with our faith values.

The CCJC lists some of the key values we need to keep in mind: “care of the afflicted; the dignity of every person; forgiveness and the healing of broken relationships; accountability and the common good.” These values suggest a two-pronged approach for Christians pursuing public justice: as a country, we need to address the root causes of crime, including social exclusion, poverty, mental illness and drug addiction by creating a society that includes everyone and respects the dignity of all. When crimes are committed, we need to respond as a community in ways that repair and restore individual relationships and community.

Such an approach isn’t soft on crime. It takes real courage and resilience to love our neighbour as ourselves, no matter the circumstances.