Articles & News

August 9, 2008

Clean jail, clean start

The Leader-Post, Saskatchewan, Alberta

There are plenty of people who think that jails are for punishment and nothing else -- and the harsher the conditions, the better.

Such critics have a right to their opinions, but there's another side to this debate. Punishment, deterrence and protection of the public are only three elements in the sentencing of criminals. Another big one is rehabilitation -- something on which we should reflect this week following the opening of a new 216-bed facility at the Regina Correctional Centre.

There are many units -- built at different times -- in the correctional centre, but the one that has borne the brunt of criticism for poor conditions has been Unit 1, described in a 2002 report by the provincial ombudsman as being dark, grim, cold in winter, hot in summer, stinking and having problems with insects and vermin, plus poor visibility -- no small safety consideration for inmates and staff. This report used words like "degrading", "humiliating" and "deplorable" to describe the unit.

A year later, Willie Littlechild, chair of the province's Commission on First Nations and Metis People and Justice Reform, said following the release of the commission's interim report in: "I believe personally that no one should be held in these kinds of conditions in today's justice system."

And judges have criticized conditions at the jail, with one giving two offenders triple credit for the time they spent in remand because of the conditions.

Current thinking in corrections circles is that doing time in brutal conditions will not make prisoners into better citizens when they return to society, but will instead make them hardened and embittered. (If harsh conditions really made prisoners reluctant to return to jail, then wouldn't the poor conditions in Unit 1 have caused a dramatic drop-off in local crime?)

The new facility brings with it a different operational philosophy that will put corrections workers and inmates into closer contact with another. The thinking behind this is that staff will be better able to pick up on problems and brewing confrontations among inmates. The centre's director admits some staff feel uncomfortable with this approach and have been reassigned. No doubt the staff and their union will be watching closely and will let the province know if things are working poorly; that is their right.

The construction of this new facility at the correctional centre represents a much-needed improvement in living conditions for those prisoners sentenced to serve time there. Perhaps some prisoners -- we have no illusions about all prisoners' goodness -- might take this opportunity to turn around lives that got them sent to jail in the first place. We hope it makes a difference.