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The Project | The
Author | The Site | The Credits
The Project
This site is dedicated
to the protection and advancement of human rights in Canadian prisons
and to promote a culture of respect for the Rule of Law behind prison
walls. The prison, seen as the most powerful weapon in our armory
against those who would hurt us, is the part of the criminal justice
system that is the least accessible to our gaze and the least amenable
to public accountability. Justice behind the Walls seeks to open up
an electronic window on the prison world, to provide both those involved
in the criminal justice system and those in whose name it is invoked,
with a greater understanding of the realities of the contemporary
prison, to ensure that the experience of justice that sustains democracy
outside of prison is not abandoned when the keeper and the kept encounter
each other inside.
The Author
Michael Jackson has been involved in the teaching and advocacy of
human rights for over 30 years, specializing in the areas of prisoners'
rights and aboriginal rights. As a professor at the University of
British Columbia's Faculty of Law, he introduced the first courses
on these subjects in a Canadian law school; as a lawyer he has represented
prisoners and First Nations in leading cases before the Supreme Court
of Canada; as a representative of the Canadian Bar Association he
has presented submissions on reforms to the criminal justice system
to committees of both the House of Commons and the Senate; as an author
Michael Jackson has previously published Prisoners
of Isolation: Solitary Confinement in Canada and Locking
Up Natives in Canada. In 1993, Michael Jackson was awarded
the Bora Laskin National Fellowship in human rights research in order
to begin the research for Justice behind the Walls. In 1999 he was
appointed Queen's Counsel by the Attorney General of British Columbia.
The Site
The primary resource on the site is the electronic edition of Michael
Jackson's latest book Justice behind the Walls,
published by Douglas and MacIntyre. The electronic version supplements
the printed version by including several additional chapters, further
case studies and an expanded commentary on law and policy. The internet
version is also hyperlinked to the leading court cases, legislation
and policy directives, and other literature that is available on line.
The hyperlinking will be especially useful to those doing research
in this area, whether as lawyers, correctional practitioners, students
or simply as citizens who want to get a more detailed understanding
of correctional law and practice. The site also has several features
designed to complement the book. There is a Gallery
which includes photographs and video of some of the people and places
referred to in the book. There are links to various court, government,
NGO, international, human rights and media sites in the Resources
section. There is also a Voices section
where statements of opinion and expression, including literature and
art, can be displayed to enliven the public debate about and understanding
of imprisonment. The Publication
section of the site contains the online versions of Justice behind
the Walls and Professor Jackson's previous book, Prisoners of Isolation,
Solitary Confinement in Canada. Finally, there is a News
section to provide an ongoing commentary on events related to the
issue of prison justice and a Contact
section which invites the visitor to have their say.
The Credits
Overall site design and project management was led by Paddy Long of
Conformist Design, while back-end
functionality for the publication and news sections were provided
by Mike Cassie of Coalescent
Design. Mike Bromm was responsible for the onerous task of content
preparation and Shane Jackson took many of the photographs, organised
the galleries and shot and edited the video segments. Financial support
for the website came from U.B.C. Faculty of Law and The Law Foundation
of B.C. |
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