[Brief on Imprisonment From Anglican Church Social Service Department]
https://archives.anglican.ca/link/official5348
- Date
- 1967 August 3
- Source
- Anglican News Service
- Type
- Press Release
- Text of motion
- Greater use of parole and the erasing of past criminal records after a specified period of successful rehabilitation are recommended in a brief prepared by the Anglican Church of Canada to the federal government's Canadian Committee on Corrections.
- It states that imprisonment is being used excessively and inappropriate use is being made of existing prisons in relation to the philosophy of respect for the dignity and worth of all men and women.
- A primary problem in that prison industries do not provide useful work for pay and are not related to the kind of work obtainable in society, it states.
- The brief, submitted by the church's social service department, was prepared by men and women from Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto, London and Winnipeg. It will be reported to the church's national synod which meets in Ottawa, August 22-31.
- Present practices of arrest, jail and bail discriminate against the poor, the brief states. Release from custody pending trial should be based on character rather than financial considerations. It says professional bondsmen should not be recognized in Canada. It suggests some social problems such as chronic petty offences, vagrancy, suicide, alcoholism and drug addiction be removed from the criminal code and dealt with by appropriate health and welfare authorities.
- Provision for legal counsel for those unable to pay for it should be the responsibility of the public purse, the brief states. It recommends again the abolition of the lash and paddle and capital punishment.
- The Anglican Church also passed a resolution in support of the abolition of capital punishment in 1958. Two years ago it published a booklet "The Death Penalty," an argument in favor of abolition, which was mailed to members of parliament before the free vote in the House of Commons.
- "The entire correctional process should be governed by the Judaeo-Christian philosophy of unfailing respect for the dignity and worth of each human being, of concern for those who have offended and of constant hope for change and moral and spiritual growth in man. The embodiment of such a philosophy in a program of action requires flexibility in the system and provision for continuing evaluation," the committee said.
- Freedom, encouragement and resources should be provided both prison staff and those outside the system to undertake research and experimentation, the report recommends.
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- Subjects
- Criminal justice, Administration of - Canada
- Criminal justice, Administration of - Canada - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada
- Prisons - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada
- Church work with prisoners - Anglican Church of Canada