| surprisingly useful legal resources | |
| note: these are not just a "shotgun spray" of links designed to take you away from my website. They are actually excellent links for research. I have found the material contained within all of these links to be extremely valuable for criminology papers and when generally trying to be a know-it-all, because they come from official sources over anecdotes, opinions, and media articles. | |
| * | Uh oh. You say your no-good friends are trying to get you to do something you think might be illegal? But is it? Well, now you can find out, just by reading the Criminal Code of Canada! It's chock full of things you probably shouldn't do. The Department of Justice has links to all Federal statutes -- and best of all, it's free! The Code is one of many statutes located on this page under the heading "frequently accessed statutes." |
| * | Tired of knee-jerk reactions offered in editorial pages and radio call-in shows because all people are ever exposed to are poorly summarized and heavily slanted snippets of the decisions made by the Supreme Court of Canada? I know I am. Why not get the full facts of each judgment straight from the source and understand for yourself why the Court made the judgment it did. |
| * | Aren't human rights just for "politically correct" wusses? Nope, not even close. In fact, if you even have to ask, you probably don't know much about human rights laws at all. Human rights may not be the only thing standing between your smoking skull and the cold, steel feet of an unfeeling, homicidal robot army, but I sure wouldn't want to wake up in the morning without them. So, why not read the Ontario Human Rights Commission website instead of nothing? |
| * | Since you can never have too much information on human rights laws, here's more information about human rights laws, provided by the comprehensive links assembled by the University of Ottawa's Human Rights Research and Education Centre. |
| * | Penal abolitionists probably aren't what you think they are. But they're right on the button when it comes to the prison crisis in America (and the way it's infecting Canada too). The Prison Activist Resource Centre website has all kinds of information on why prison is best taken in much smaller doses. Also see -- the greatest prison myths of all time, provided and debunked by the good people at Corrections Canada. |
| * | The Solicitor General of Canada has a detailed website that include this publication about pardoned offenders in Canada. It discusses the success rate of pardoned offenders in society, as well as providing an overview of how the system of pardons works in Canada. For more general information on various kinds of release, including how to obtain a pardon if you actually are a criminal (oooh -- cool!), consult the National Parole Board of Canada. |
| * | The John Howard Society has an excellent publication discussing the facts, statistics, and legal problems regarding Canada's policy of conditional sentences (not to be confused with conditional release) per the law set out in [the 1996] Bill c-41. Of special note: the troubling problem of "net-widening" that has resulted, even as misinformed critics rashly claim that the policy allows hardened criminals to get off easy. Also see -- the main John Howard Society page. |
| * | Are statistics truly the tool of the devil? Absolutely -- in fact, so is my right hand. Both nevertheless have some pretty wonderful and interesting contributions to make to the world, too. For example, how better to dismiss someone's fancy statistics than by dropping a crushing ton of your own statistics on their pointy little heads? Here's Statistics Canada's criminal justice statistics to help. |
| * | Did you know that when you die, a fascinating variety of insects arrive and colonize your dead, smelly body in order to accomplish a whole mess of chewy deeds? It's true! And you can read all about it in the paper I've just completed on forensic entomology. |
| * | Canada's prison system disproportionately incarcerates aboriginal offenders, and while growing attention is focused on this problem, few solutions have been implemented. One such alternative is the use of the "sentencing circle" -- a community forum that brings victims and offenders together in search of an appropriate resolution. This process is evaluated in my paper on aboriginal justice in Canada, and I contrast this reactive solution with preventative social efforts and rehabilitation. |
| * | Essays to the left of you, essays to the right of you! I spend so much time writing them -- why don't you just make yourself comfortable and take some time to read them? It would make me happy in a way that the extremely high grades I've received also do. I'm extremely proud of this paper, which was produced for the seminar attached to my eight-month field placement at the Ottawa courthouse. It is an extensive critique of both legal aid and duty counsel in Ontario, which together provide the time and resources needed to bring (desperately needed) access to justice to the poor. |
| * | So, now you're asking: "Gee, Rob, how do I get to be as smart as you?" Well, for a start, you can spend the best years of your life in Carleton University's Criminology and Criminal Justice degree program, just like I did. After that, you can begin a whole new adventure by coming with me to law school at the University of Ottawa. Otherwise, you can just hang out in some law, sociology, and forensic psychology lectures every now and then, and pretend. |
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What people mean by the term Politically Correct: "A request to apply the Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you) which the speaker finds unwelcome, usually because
of the risk of suffering personal inconvenience, expense, or guilt." What people mean by Politically Incorrect: "bad manners, selfishness, and occasional bigotry, when marketed as a lifestyle that some people just aren't cool enough to get." -- definitions provided by louann miller |