BETTER IDEA: House Arrest

Erin Breen is a criminal lawyer in St. John's who sees a lot of clients charged with criminal offences. She says that revisions made to the criminal code in 2012 have made it more difficult for judges to assign house arrest as a viable sentencing option, and that this is bad news for her clients, and for Canadians in general. 

The thought of, 'send them all to jail -- if they did the crime they have to do the time,' that kind of philosophy really doesn't make sense if your primary goal is the safety of your community.- Erin Breen, criminal lawyer

In her opinion, jails in Canada don't do a very good job of rehabilitation, and people often come out more of a danger to society than when they went in. Furthermore, people under house arrest are free to work to support their families, or attend school in order to improve their options while serving their sentences. But those who face jail time are often destitute when they get out, and spiral downwards as a result. 

It's not just the individual who is impacted. It's generations of families. Families are impacted by this.- Erin Breen, criminal lawyer

Erin Breen talks to host Jim Brown about her "better idea." She'd like judges to have more discretion in sentencing. In her view, someone under house arrest might ultimately make a better neighbour than someone who has spent time in prison.

The audio of this interview will be posted later this week.