Ford defends jail expansion plan to address overcrowding issues (www.cbc.ca)

submitted 6 hours ago by HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works to c/canada@lemmy.ca

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford defended his government's plan to build many more jails, saying the billions in cost will be worth it.

Ontario's jails are well over capacity and the overcrowding has been worsening for years under Ford's tenure as premier.

The province plans to add upward of 6,000 new jail beds by 2050, government documents obtained by The Canadian Press show.

About 80 per cent of inmates in provincial jails are awaiting trial and presumptively innocent. The provincial institutions hold people who are accused of a crime but not on bail, as well as those serving sentences of two years less a day. Inmates with longer sentences are housed in the federal prison system.

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[-] sbv@sh.itjust.works 5 points 5 hours ago

"The government has completely failed to address overcrowding in jails because of their underinvestment in our court system, and as a result, a number of hardened criminals are getting out because of it," said Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner.

Mike has it figured out.

several factors are contributing to the rise, including a backlog in the court system to deal with those on remand in jail awaiting trial, inmates remaining in custody longer, bail reform and population growth.

The court system is beyond capacity, so more people are waiting for court dates. Properly fund courts so we don't have untried people rotting in jails.

We'll definitely need more prison space, since the population is growing, but making space in jails so the wait time for court dates can increase is nonsensical.

[-] nyan@lemmy.cafe 3 points 5 hours ago

Jails don't hold only people waiting for trial, though—if I recall correctly, people serving short sentences may also be confined in a jail rather than a prison, so the jail space also needs to scale with population (we've been having issues with jail and prison overcrowding for a good quarter-century). Therefore, we need more jail space and more prison space and a better-funded, better-staffed court system that can hear cases in a timely manner, but yeah, the court system is the most important part.

[-] sbv@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 hours ago

It looks like 79% of people in jails are waiting for trial. That's a lot.

[-] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 hours ago

Because bail reform hasn't kept up with lagging wages and homeless numbers.

[-] Reannlegge@lemmy.ca 3 points 5 hours ago

U of Crime is rarely the answer.

[-] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

"We aren't building Four Seasons hotels for these people, they're going to jail, and again, I don't care if you stack them 10 high, these are criminals that broke the law and they're going to be held accountable," Ford said.

Pot/kettle Druggie.