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Reconsidering Penal Stability in Canada Through a New Sentencing Severity Index by Jean-Denis David; Chloé Leclerc; Brendyn Johnson is a Social Sciences article available to read on EtoBox.

What is Reconsidering Penal Stability in Canada Through a New Sentencing Severity Index about?

Changes to criminal sentencing practices are often multifaceted and complex to interpret. This article proposes the development of a new sentencing severity index which simultaneously considers the type of punishment mobilized as well as the scale of that punishment. It does so in the context of important reforms to Canadian sentencing, examining the possibility of a punitive turn in Canadian criminal justice through this new index. Data were drawn from Canadian adult criminal courts collected through Statistics Canada's Integrated Criminal Court Survey between 2005/2006 and 2016/2017. The analysis is based on instances where either custody or probation were the primary sentence of a case. We show that the underlying makeup of Canadian sentencing has changed over time. Custodial sentences are more frequent, but shorter, while probation sentences are fewer, but longer overall. However, in combining these dimensions (frequency and length), the index suggests that overall sentencing severity remained generally stable. Nevertheless, considerable changes across offence type and jurisdictions were observed. The article points to the importance of nuancing the assessment of penal practice

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Author

Jean-Denis David; Chloé Leclerc; Brendyn Johnson

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Published

2023

Language

EN

Field

Social Sciences