This course examines how the policy, law, science, and practice of criminal justice address human rights in the context of sentencing and corrections, with an added focus on detention of migrants. Discussion will center on the use of evidence-based policies and practices in Europe, Canada, and the United States to reduce recidivism in criminal justice systems, and draw contrasts with detention related to migration. Grounded in therapeutic jurisprudence, the recognition of rights of the convicted, and efforts to improve community safety, evidence-based criminal justice systems are replacing non-rehabilitative corrections practices, which often have the adverse effect of contributing to criminality. By contrast, migrants may be detained for reasons apart from criminal activity in systems that are not typically designed to improve outcomes for those detained. In such cases, social science warns that confinement conditions that are blind to migrants' needs and restrict their rights compound challenges for those detained and increase the risk of adverse outcomes. The course examines how implementation of existing human rights protections can minimize restrictions on liberty for migrants and encourage needs-based assessment and alternatives to detention.  

Instructor: Dr. Melissa Aubin