PRISON LIFE IS A STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE, NOT A TIME OF REFLECTION

Last week, the Canadian House of Commons passed Bill C-15. As a
result, Canadian law will soon dictate mandatory prison sentences for
serious drug offenders, particularly drug traffickers and anyone
manipulating young Canadians to commit drug crimes. At first glance,
this seems perfectly reasonable -- and it can be, if we fix our prisons.

Let's take a closer look. At present, Canada has one of the highest
rates of incarceration in the western world. Also, our aboriginal
population is grossly overrepresented in jail; in provincial
institutions, aboriginals -- who represent approximately four per cent
of Canada's population -- make up about a quarter of all inmates. Bill
C-15 will soon cause a significant increase in inmates, as flexibility
in sentencing gives way to mandatory prison terms. If prisons worked,
these facts might not be so troubling, but our prisons, as presently
constituted, do not produce the effect intended.

Using them to reduce drug crimes seems especially wrong-headed.
Prisoners often become addicted to narcotics while in prison. That
sounds preposterous, but it's true. The place we send society's most
dangerous elements for rehabilitation is full of illegal drugs. Over
10 per cent of Canadian prisoners tested positive in random drug
tests, and that figure is probably low, because many prisoners refused
to be tested, presumably knowing they'd fail.

Prisons can only rehabilitate their inmates if they are free from
crime and can be places for reflection and retraining. Unfortunately,
Canada's prisons are crime ridden, dirty, degrading and dangerous.
They act more as a school for crime than a place of rehabilitation. In
fact, the most recent federal government study showed that
incarceration was associated with a slight increase in recidivism; in
the blunt words of the report: "Prisons and intermediate sanctions
should not be used with the expectation of reducing criminal behaviour."

The concept of using prisons for rehabilitation is relatively modern.
Historically, prisons were intended as places to hold accused only
briefly, pending trial or punishment; St. Paul's time in prison, some
2,000 years ago, was as someone awaiting trial. The concept of
redemption through a restriction on liberty was alien to the
pre-modern world.

The concept of rehabilitation appears with the creation of the modern
penal system, of which it was a driving force. The first Penitentiary
Act, written in 1779, began by speaking of "deterring others from the
commission of ... crimes [and] of reforming individuals and inuring
them to habits of industry." In theory, the concept of deterrence and
reformation through incarceration remains the justification for
prisons to this day.

Unfortunately, the practice of prisons is vastly different. In theory,
criminals separated from society and bad influences will reflect on
their errors and, with time and training, move on to become productive
citizens. The concept of quiet solitude combined with productive
labour is well suited for spiritual and moral rebirth. In such
circumstances, prisoners might indeed be rehabilitated. Prisoners
might spend time reflecting on their actions and see that they should
best avoid their former errors. In practice, however, prison life is a
struggle to survive, allowing little room for reflection.

While some prisons, especially those holding inmates for extended
periods, have adequate training and counselling resources, no Canadian
prisons isolate prisoners from the bad influence of other prisoners.

Fraudsters, robbers, thugs and the mentally unhinged (at least 15 per
cent of the prison population) mingle in circumstances of almost
limitless intercourse. Add widely available narcotics to the mix and
it's hardly surprising that few reform.

What's more, many prisons are grossly overcrowded and under-resourced.
Tiny cells designed for one inmate hold three, often for more than 12
hours a day. Violence is commonplace, made worse by overcrowding and
drugs. Ill health, including widespread tuberculosis, is a daily fact
of life. It defies common sense to think anyone will come out of such
conditions an improved person.

Our system fails in large part because it is not rational. It is
possible to make prisons that are free from drugs and where prisoners
are treated for ill health and protected from assault. The failure to
effect these reforms makes a mockery of Canada's penal system. Prison
reform, treating prisoners as human, does not mean they should be
mollycoddled. Punishment is a legitimate part of incarnation.

But prison reform must mean that prisons be designed to allow for
improvement through incarceration. If we continue to incarcerate
people, and we do in large numbers, there must be at least a prospect
of the incarceration doing some good. Prisons can work, but only if
they are what they are supposed to be -- quiet, orderly places where
the inmate can reflect on the misdeeds of the past and find the
resolve to change for the future.

James C. Morton is a lawyer at Steinberg Morton Hope & Israel in
Toronto and adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, York
University.