FIXED SENTENCES DON'T WORK

The federal government should seriously reconsider its plan to
introduce mandatory sentences for marijuana growers. Apart from the
fact those sentences have repeatedly been shown not to work, our jails
are already bursting at the seams. Where does Stephen Harper think
we're going to put all his new-found felons?

Earlier this week, federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson unveiled
legislation that would create mandatory minimum sentences for a number
of drug offences, including growing pot. Currently, about 15 per cent
of those convicted of cultivation go to jail, about 125 people a year.
That leaves more than 700 growers a year who aren't going to jail now
but, if the new law is enacted, almost certainly will.

B.C. Corrections staff say there's no room for more convicts -- there
are currently 2,735 inmates in provincial jails and about 80 per cent
of them are double-bunked. So wouldn't it make more sense, if you're
committed to going down this road, to build new jails first, then
reform the legislation?

Building jails, however, doesn't impress voters. In fact, it tends to
turn them away because no one wants a jail built near their community.
Harper knows the Tories will get more mileage out of a tough-on-crime
facade than by logically approaching the problem.

But there again, Harper's plan misses the mark. In the U.S., where
some states have had drug-related minimum sentences since the 1970s,
mandatory-minimum laws are being repealed. The U.S. experience has
found the system tends to incarcerate large numbers of non-violent
offenders, who in many cases were at very low risk to reoffend. Is
that who we want in our shiny new jails?

Moreover, forcing judges to impose minimum sentences takes the power
of decision out of the judge's hands and gives it to the Crown.
Prosecutors, through the power of plea bargains, would be able to
decide who goes to jail and who doesn't.

Harper, though, has made no secret of his desire to push the Tories
tough-on-crime agenda through. It will be up to the combined power of
the opposition to stand up to this ill-considered legislation and keep
our jails from being more overcrowded than they already are.