COVID-19: Low Risk Offenders

Unpublished Cafe

English - April 11, 2020 16:51 - 29 minutes - 27 MB
News Society & Culture current affairs news politics political commentary ottawa canada ontario Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed

Previous Episode: COVID-19: Listener Check-up - How are we doing?

Next Episode: COVID-19: Seniors in Long-term Care

PUBLISHED: 04/11/2020
In our new social isolation, physical distancing world, there is a group of people for whom that isn’t a reality.

A group of leading medical professionals called on the federal and provincial governments to look at releasing low risk inmates to ease the burden on those facilities. They are ripe for an outbreak when you consider the close proximity of prisoners, guards, staff and parole officers. Quite often sanitation is sparse. There’s another group to consider as well. Those being held for bail. Remember, they have yet to be convicted of a crime, nor have been before a judge and being inside puts them at risk of possibly being infected. While we know there are several inmates held in a cell, there is no ability for them to physical distance from each other. Also at risk are those on the other side of the bars, guards, and staff of the facility.

Tune in to the Unpublished Café today to learn about the conditions in Canada’s jails and prisons, and let us know what you think: Should low risk offenders be released from jails and prisons to prevent the spread of COVID-19? Cast your vote at Unpublished.Vote

Check out the rest of our series on COVID-19 here: https://bit.ly/2RuxJ69

————————————

GUESTS:

Lee Chapelle
https://canadianprisonconsulting.com/about-us/
President at Canadian Prison Consulting Inc.

Stan Stapleton
http://www.usje-sesj.com/en/national-executive
National President at Union of Safety and Justice Employees

Catherine Latimer
https://johnhoward.ca/media/media-contact-information/
Executive Director at John Howard Society

————————————

REFERENCES:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/prison-covid19-csc-release-1.5516065

https://www.hilltimes.com/2020/03/25/release-low-risk-prisoners-to-prevent-covid-19-outbreak-say-advocates-calling-for-immediate-action/240730

https://aptnnews.ca/2020/04/07/release-or-isolate-the-debate-on-how-to-help-people-inside-canadas-prisons-and-jails-during-covid-19/

https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/covid-19-union-calls-for-release-of-low-risk-non-violent-provincial-and-federal-offenders-amid-covid-crisis/

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/03/29/trudeau-very-concerned-that-covid-19-could-spread-in-federal-prisons.html