First Nations court smart move – Prince George Citizen

January 24, 2018

Last year, PBS aired an insightful documentary called Tribal Justice, which followed two female Native American judges working in collaboration with the California legal system to use more traditional ways to deal with Indigenous offenders.

For those wanting an understanding of how the First Nations court opening in Prince George in March might work, visit the film’s website at pbs.org/pov/tribaljustice/. Naturally, there are local residents concerned about the special treatment First Nations people supposedly get from the Canadian justice system. “You do the crime, you do the time” is the common refrain, regardless of your racial heritage.

Yet this refrain, with its focus on the crime and not the criminal, exposes what is exactly wrong with the Canadian and American justice systems in their current forms. Crimes are reduced to mathematical formulas, regarding the amount of the fine or the length of time in jail, rather than a focus on the individual and how to keep that person from reoffending.

Read More: http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/opinion/editorial/first-nations-court-smart-move-1.23154385