As he sentenced an Indigenous man — who has been in and out of custody most of his life — to yet another prison term last week, a Toronto judge couldn’t help but ask: “To what end?”
Ontario Court Justice André Chamberlain called into question the usefulness of the correctional system and the lack of community supports as he sentenced Jayson Pothier to three years for breaking and entering and robbery in a ruling that experts say demonstrates a growing judicial frustration with the inability of prisons to actually rehabilitate people.
“Significant jail sentences have been imposed on you in the past,” Chamberlain said in his decision addressed directly to Pothier, who represented himself in court and pleaded guilty to his latest charges.
