May/June 2009: Crime & punishment

Crime dominates the news, but the standard political pronouncements on the subject seldom move beyond empty, knee-jerk vows to “get tough” on the perpetrators. This approach to the topic only stokes the politics of fear, of blame, of poor-bashing and insidious racism. In our crime & punishment issue, Briarpatch brings you a variety of ethically engaged perspectives on questions of crime, punishment, and the justice system, from policing mental health to securing the Olympics, from the fathers’ rights movement in Canada to the drive for prison reform in Ghana — plus some killer investment advice.

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features

policing mental health
When can a group of men break into a man’s home and kill him with impunity?
By Calvin Whilte

between home and a hard place
Security detainees’ house arrests jail whole families
By Matthew Behrens

the detestable solution
Prison reform in Ghana
By Chris Benjamin

“indians can manage their own justice” (pdf)
Traditional justice & indigenous autonomy in Colombia
A photo essay by Dawn Paley

class-war games
The financial & social cost of “securing” the 2010 OIympics
By Christopher A. Shaw & Alissa Westergard-Thorpe

anger in action
The politics of fathers’ rights in Canada
By Deanna Ogle

departments

letter from the editor
Crime, punishment & other miscarriages of justice

letters to the editor

reviews

Kerry Pither’s Dark Days: The story of four Canadians tortured in the name of fighting terror
Reviewed by Lorne Brown

Irvin Waller’s Less Law, More Order: The truth about reducing crime
Reviewed by Reuel S. Amdur

Margaret MacMillan’s The Uses & Abuses of History
Reviewed by Ruth Latta

luz: girl of the knowing
“High Intensity” by Claudia Dávila

quotes from the underground
Talking torture with Slavoj Žižek, Michael Ignatieff & Naomi Klein

parting shots
How to profit from the global recession
By Anna Reitman

To subscribe or order a copy of this issue, call 1-866-431-5777 or visit our secure online shop.