Indigenous People and Criminal Justice


Book Description

Indigenous Australians are the most incarcerated people on Earth. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders make up 2% of all Australians, yet constitute 27% of the nation¿s prison population. Over-representation in the criminal justice system by indigenous men, women and young people is a persistent and growing problem. What are the reasons for these high imprisonment rates; and what reforms are being proposed to reduce indigenous people¿s contact with the criminal justice system? Are `tough on crime¿ policies flouting death-in-custody recommendations and further entrenching indigenous inequality and disadvantage before the law? After the recent Royal Commission, prompted by shocking abuses at the Don Dale detentioncentre, has anything changed in relation to youth detention? This book examines the latest research on indigenous imprisonment rates, and reviews progress on addressing Aboriginal deaths in custody and youthdetention reform. How can governments reduce over-incarceration and commit to working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communitiesto implement overdue interventions? What will it take to unlock theproblems of indigenous inequality in the criminal justice system?







Aboriginal Justice and the Charter


Book Description

Aboriginal Justice and the Charter examines and seeks to resolve the tension between Aboriginal approaches to justice and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Until now, scholars have explored idealized notions of what Aboriginal justice might look like. David Milward strikes out into new territory by asking why Aboriginal communities seek reform and by identifying some of the constitutional barriers in their path. He identifies specific areas of the criminal justice process in which Aboriginal communities may wish to adopt different approaches, tests these approaches against constitutional imperatives, and offers practical proposals for reconciling the various matters at stake. This bold exploration of Aboriginal justice grapples with the difficult question of how Aboriginal justice systems can be fair to their constituents but still comply with the protections guaranteed to all Canadians by the Charter.




Justice in Aboriginal Communities


Book Description

Canada's criminal justice system has had a troubled relationship with Aboriginal people. This discord can be seen in disproportionally high rates of incarceration and in the limited recognition given by the conventional system to the needs and values of Aboriginal communities. To compound matters, many remote communities are served by fly-in circuit courts, which visit the communities once a month, pronounce judgement on the cases presented to them, and then leave. Ross Green looks at the evolution of the Canadian criminal justice system and the values upon which it is based. He then contrasts those values with Aboriginal concepts of justice. Against this backdrop, he introduces sentencing and mediation alternatives currently being developed in Aboriginal communities, including sentencing circles, elder and community sentencing panels, sentence advisory committees, and community mediation projects. At the heart of the book are case studies of northern communities, which Green uses to analyse the successes of and challenges to the innovative approaches to sentencing currently evolving in Aboriginal communities across the country. He concludes with a discussion of the ways in which the Canadian criminal justice system can facilitate or obstruct such innovations. This book is based on the author's scholarly research; field trips to the communities profiled; interviews with judges, prosecutors, community leaders, and participants in sentencing circles, sentencing panels, and mediation committees; and the author's personal experiences as a defence lawyer in northeastern Saskatchewan. This book is aimed at those concerned with criminal justice as well as practicing lawyers.




Will the Circle be Unbroken?


Book Description

Drawing on their shared experiences working with Aboriginal communities, the authors examine the outcomes of restorative justice projects, paying special attention to such prominent programs as conferencing, sentencing circles, and healing circles. They also look to Aboriginal justice reforms in other countries, comparing and contrasting Canadian reforms with the restorative efforts in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.




Justice and Warfare in Aboriginal Australia


Book Description

Meticulously examining ethnographic sources, Christophe Darmangeat argues that warfare among Australian Aborigines was mostly an extension of their judicial systems. He demonstrates how violent conflict occurred when circumstances prohibited regulated proceedings.




The Oxford Handbook of Ethnicity, Crime, and Immigration


Book Description

This title provides comprehensive analyses of current knowledge about the unwarranted disparities in dealings with the criminal justice system faced by some disadvantaged minority groups in all developed countries




Justice


Book Description

A lively and multi-dimensional insight into Australian history, Justice: A history of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia reveals the human face of some of the nation's major social, political and legal reforms of the past four decades. The Aboriginal Legal Service began by defending Aboriginal people's right to equality before the law, and its defence of Aboriginal people's human rights has taken this story beyond the criminal justice system.




Returning to the Teachings


Book Description

In his bestselling book Dancing with a Ghost, Rupert Ross began his exploration of Aboriginal approaches to justice and the visions of life that shape them. Returning to the Teachings takes this exploration further still. During a three-year secondment with Justice Canada, Ross travelled from the Yukon to Cape Breton Island, examining--and experiencing--the widespread Aboriginal preference for "peacemaker justice." In this remarkable book, he invites us to accompany him as he moves past the pain and suffering that grip so many communities and into the exceptional promise of individual, family and community healing that traditional teachings are now restoring to Aboriginal Canada. He shares his confusion, frustrations and delights as Elders and other teachers guide him, in their unique and often puzzling ways, into ancient visions of Creation and our role with it. Returning to the Teachings is about Aboriginal justice and much more, speaking not only to our minds, but also to our hearts and spirits. Above all, it stands as a search for the values and visions that give life its significance and that any justice system, Aboriginal or otherwise, must serve and respect.




Indigenous Environmental Justice


Book Description

This volume clearly distinguishes Indigenous environmental justice (IEJ) from the broader idea of environmental justice (EJ) while offering detailed examples from recent history of environmental injustices that have occurred in Indian Country. With connections to traditional homelands being at the heart of Native identity, environmental justice is of heightened importance to Indigenous communities. Not only do irresponsible and exploitative environmental policies harm the physical and financial health of Indigenous communities, they also cause spiritual harm by destroying land held in a place of exceptional reverence for Indigenous peoples. With focused essays on important topics such as the uranium mining on Navajo and Hopi lands, the Dakota Access Pipeline dispute on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, environmental cleanup efforts in Alaska, and many other pertinent examples, this volume offers a timely view of the environmental devastation that occurs in Indian Country. It also serves to emphasize the importance of self-determination and sovereignty in victories of Indigenous environmental justice. The book explores the ongoing effects of colonization and emphasizes Native American tribes as governments rather than ethnic minorities. Combining elements of legal issues, human rights issues, and sovereignty issues, Indigenous Environmental Justice creates a clear example of community resilience in the face of corporate greed and state indifference.