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suetrav's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoy this style of non-fiction. Part autobiography and part research.
This was definitely eye-opening for me. I am fully aware that there are issues with Indigenous people and the RCMP/criminal justice system and this book does a great job of explaining why. I agree that justice should be less about deterrence and more about redemption, especially in the northern (smaller) communities.
There were a few eye-openers for me in this book. 80.6% of men and 71.2% of women in Canada use alcohol at risky levels? Really? I actually went and looked at the Chief Public Health Officer's report he cites in the book. I had no idea the numbers were so high. He says "The stereotype of the lazy drunken Indian is simply false. In fact there are, per capita, more Indigenous people in Canada who are completely abstinent than there are among the non-Indigenous population. Thirty-five percent of Indigenous people in Canada do not use alcohol at all, compared with only 18% of Canadians."
This observation could also be applied to the over incarceration of black people in the USA. "We send people out of the community to correctional centres and penitentiaries, and they learn quickly to depend on the institution. There is no need to work, and everything they need for shelter and sustenance is provided. They learn not to be responsible. They have no power to change their circumstances, so anything that happens to them is beyond their control. The jailhouse culture infects our communities, resulting in increased dependence, hopelessness and violence, and the infection results in more charges being laid, more need for police and courts and more people being sent to jail, adding another spiral to the cycle."
The author actually has some good ideas on how to start fixing the problem of over incarceration but states that the justice system is "too large, too cumbersome and too entrenched to ever change." Talk about depressing! The poverty, HIV/AIDS infection rate, meth addiction and suicide statistics he cites for Saskatchewan are disheartening. He does leave us with a bit of hope at the end of the book with a call to Indigenous Peoples to work on creating their own justice systems as "it could not be any worse than what we have now."
This was definitely eye-opening for me. I am fully aware that there are issues with Indigenous people and the RCMP/criminal justice system and this book does a great job of explaining why. I agree that justice should be less about deterrence and more about redemption, especially in the northern (smaller) communities.
There were a few eye-openers for me in this book. 80.6% of men and 71.2% of women in Canada use alcohol at risky levels? Really? I actually went and looked at the Chief Public Health Officer's report he cites in the book. I had no idea the numbers were so high. He says "The stereotype of the lazy drunken Indian is simply false. In fact there are, per capita, more Indigenous people in Canada who are completely abstinent than there are among the non-Indigenous population. Thirty-five percent of Indigenous people in Canada do not use alcohol at all, compared with only 18% of Canadians."
This observation could also be applied to the over incarceration of black people in the USA. "We send people out of the community to correctional centres and penitentiaries, and they learn quickly to depend on the institution. There is no need to work, and everything they need for shelter and sustenance is provided. They learn not to be responsible. They have no power to change their circumstances, so anything that happens to them is beyond their control. The jailhouse culture infects our communities, resulting in increased dependence, hopelessness and violence, and the infection results in more charges being laid, more need for police and courts and more people being sent to jail, adding another spiral to the cycle."
The author actually has some good ideas on how to start fixing the problem of over incarceration but states that the justice system is "too large, too cumbersome and too entrenched to ever change." Talk about depressing! The poverty, HIV/AIDS infection rate, meth addiction and suicide statistics he cites for Saskatchewan are disheartening. He does leave us with a bit of hope at the end of the book with a call to Indigenous Peoples to work on creating their own justice systems as "it could not be any worse than what we have now."
colindac's review against another edition
5.0
Johnson examines the justice system's failures to deliver peace and good order to Indigenous peoples. He includes reflection on his own role in this as a former Crown prosecutor. Quick, important read.
ellosippo's review against another edition
5.0
Wow.
I have lots of thoughts, but the main one is: this is a great book that has changed the way I look at justice in Canada. Really fascinating.
I have lots of thoughts, but the main one is: this is a great book that has changed the way I look at justice in Canada. Really fascinating.
hnagle15's review against another edition
4.0
"To say that law and justice have failed Indigenous Peoples in Canada is a vast understatement. Law and justice appear to be the tools employed to continue the forced subjugation of an entire population."
Harold Johnson is a member of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation and on this book shares his experiences of being both a Crown prosecutor and defense attorney. Johnson highlights the ways in which the Canadian Justice System has immensely failed Indigenous Peoples in Canada, and how we must immediately act to correct our mistakes.
arationalvein's review against another edition
5.0
Accessible to everyone - an excellent, thoughtful read.
haniah's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
first off, it needs to be said that this title is top tier. otherwise, this book genuinely changed how I view justice. I knew it was broken before, but didn't realize the extent to which it was disadvantaging indigenous peoples, especially those in remote communities!! there is more than one way for justice, and this book proves it.
pipn_t's review
challenging
informative
fast-paced
5.0
Short but very powerful. This book is full of important facts and insights into systemic problems with the Justice system and how intergenerational trauma perpetuates itself. Highly recommend to anyone, Canadian or no.
eleanorlafleur's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
2.75