Satisfying justice.

• Author: Prashaw, Rick

Canadians are facing a crisis in the justice system. Prison populations are soaring. The costs are no longer affordable. Yet people are feeling less safe and secure. What Canadians want and need is satisfying justice -- a response to crime that takes victims seriously and helps them heal, a response that calls offenders to account and deals with them effectively, a response that gets tough on the causes of crime and does something about them.

It is clear that filling our jails has just not been working.

Why are we doing this?

Couldn't all that money be put to better use to make us secure?

How can we get SMARTER about getting tough?

Here are two excerpts from the 1997 publication, Satisfying Justice, by the Church Council on Justice and Corrections, a publication which collected the stories of correctional approaches that have actually worked with offenders. These stories may help us begin to answer some of the troubling questions.

Atoskata - Victim Compensation Project for Youth, Regina, Saskatchewan

Atoskata, a Cree phrase meaning work at it, is the name given to the Victim Compensation Project run out of the Regina Friendship Centre.

A Story

A Regina teen was given 18 months probation instead of the expected prison term for stealing a car and leading police on a high-speed chase. A year earlier, the same youth received 18 months probation and 100 hours of community service for six car thefts. The new offence might have led to a term of custody, especially in a community which has seen a huge increase in auto thefts which have resulted in public pressure to jail teen criminals.

But the judge rejected a custodial sentence, citing the different approach of the Atoskata Program. The program, set up especially to deal with young car thieves, finds businesses that will pay the accused for his community service. The accused can then pay the victim's insurance or other repair costs with the money he or she earns.

The boy's parents agreed with the sentence, saying their son has turned his life around since his latest arrest. "We want to keep him at home and we agree that he should do some work for the community," said the boy's father.

Program Description

Rising auto thefts in Regina captured the attention of the public and prompted the police and judiciary to respond initially in a punitive manner that they felt would deter further incidents. Closed custody sentences became an increasingly used option for offending youths, with the length of sentence rising by approximately two months in each of the last few years.

Saskatchewan...