Recent policy changes by Premier Doug Ford have removed minimum density requirements in Ontario correctional facilities, compounding existing cell overcrowding. Despite criticism from judges, does intensifying conditions of confinement actually contribute to public safety?
“That observation goes to the heart of the criminal justice debate. Overcrowding does not occur in a vacuum. When you put large numbers of people together in cramped conditions, reduce personal space and heighten the tensions of confinement, conflict becomes more likely. The Star reports that violence among inmates and against correctional officers has increased as Ontario’s jails have become more crowded. If imprisonment leaves people more violent, less stable and less able to support themselves than when they entered, society has not necessarily become safer.