Hi there,
This is a sociology class on Crime and Society, specifically SOCI 2450A. you will need to answer the discussion post below. The discussion post should be 2 full paragraphs in length (3-5 sentences per paragraph),
reflect an adequate understanding and engagement with the reading material, and be respectful in
both tone and content. I have attached the reading and lecture in order to answer this discussion thoroughly without using any outside sources. you can only use the readings and lecture i have attached. you must refer to readings in your text.
discussion: In the readings for Class #8, we are presented with evidence of how powers in the criminal justice system may unjustly target people at the margins of our societies. For example, in their study of cannabis arrest data obtained from police services in five Canadian cities (Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Ottawa, Halifax), Owusu and Luscombe (2021) found that “with just one exception…both Black and Indigenous people are over-represented amongst those arrested for cannabis possession across the five cities examined” (p. 1). Chesnay et al. (2013) also concluded in their research that tracked tickets delivered to homeless people in Ontario and British Columbia that “homeless people are indeed penalized through the enforcement of the Ontario and BC Safe Streets Acts and that their penalization reflects the tensions associated with the visibility of homeless people in public spaces” (p. 179).
Engaging these readings, what do you think are some ways we can potentially reform the criminal justice system to account for the problematic ways in which marginalized people become subject to criminalization?