Analysing the Impact of Bail Reform
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Running head: ANALYSING BAIL REFORM 1 R. v. Antic and Justices of the Peace: Analysing the Impact of Bail Reform Jenaya Nixon Honours Thesis Advisor: Dr. Carolyn Yule University of Guelph ANALYSING BAIL REFORM 2 Acknowledgements I am incredibly thankful for the guidance and expertise I received from Dr. Carolyn Yule. She provided me with countless opportunities that made my undergraduate experience unique and fulfilling. She was patient, kind, and challenged me to become a better scholar and go beyond the normal expectations of an undergraduate thesis. I am also very grateful for the help I received from Dr. Edward Koning. His expertise in research methods made me feel extra confident about my work. I also extend thanks to Dr. Stephanie Howells who was interested in my research and gave me the unique opportunity to guest lecture in her class. Finally, I would like to thank my partner, family, and friends who supported me and listened to me talk about bail endlessly over the past year. ANALYSING BAIL REFORM 3 Abstract Recent bail reform, including R. v. Antic (2017), highlights the need for change to ensure that judicial decisions about bail follow bail legislation. However, the impact of bail reform is understudied. Bail releases often do not follow bail legislation and case law as they ignore the ladder principle and include conditions that do not appear to relate to the risks of release or the alleged crime. The trend reflects a reluctance of Justices of the Peace (JPs) to ensure that their decisions abide by legal rules. The current study uses 132 bail cases from a mid-sized city in southwestern Ontario to examine the impact of bail reform on judicial decisions about bail releases. The results show that bail reform decreases the severity of forms of release, increases the average number of conditions per case, impacts the application of onerous conditions, increases the amount of JP disagreement with Crown attorney requests, and influences how JPs explain their bail decisions. The study also finds significant variation in decisions between JPs. ANALYSING BAIL REFORM 4 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 6 2. Literature Review........................................................................................................................ 9 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 9 The Law on Bail .......................................................................................................................... 9 Theoretical Approach ................................................................................................................ 11 Risk and Risk Management. .................................................................................................. 11 Risk Management Techniques............................................................................................... 13 The Political Sociology of Risk Management. ...................................................................... 16 Other Theories of Judicial Behaviour. ................................................................................... 18 The Modern Evolution of Bail .................................................................................................. 19 The Bail Reform Act (1972). ................................................................................................. 19 The Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982)......................................................................... 21 Supreme Court Cases............................................................................................................. 22 The Current State of Bail .......................................................................................................... 24 Delays. ................................................................................................................................... 24 Onerous Releases and the Revolving Door. .......................................................................... 25 Onerous Conditions. .............................................................................................................. 26 R. v. Antic (2017): A Response to the Current State of Bail. ................................................ 27 The Bail Directive for Crown Attorneys (2017). .................................................................. 28 The Present Study...................................................................................................................... 28 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 29 3. Data and Methods ..................................................................................................................... 30 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 30 Data Collection .......................................................................................................................... 30 Courtroom Observations........................................................................................................ 30 Sample ....................................................................................................................................... 31 Analytic Strategy ....................................................................................................................... 32 Thematic Analysis. ................................................................................................................ 32 Descriptive Statistics ................................................................................................................. 34 Key Measures. ....................................................................................................................... 35 ANALYSING BAIL REFORM 5 Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 37 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 38 4. Results ....................................................................................................................................... 39 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 39 Forms of Release ....................................................................................................................... 39 Conditions ................................................................................................................................. 43 Number of Conditions Imposed. ........................................................................................... 43 Types of Conditions Imposed. ............................................................................................... 45 JP Disagreement with Crown Requests .................................................................................... 50 JP Mentions of R. v. Antic ......................................................................................................... 54 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 55 5. Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 57 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 57 Forms of Release: The Rise of Undertakings and the Decline of Sureties ............................... 57 Number of Conditions: A Post-Antic Increase .......................................................................... 58 Types of Conditions: Onerous Conditions Decrease but Continue. .......................................... 60 Disagreement: Bail Reform Influences JPs to Follow Legislation (In Varying Degrees) ........ 63 Theoretical Implications ............................................................................................................ 65 Policy Implications: Past Bail Reform Is Not Enough to Fix the Current Bail System ............ 68 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 71 6. Concluding Remarks ................................................................................................................. 73 Limitations and Future Research............................................................................................... 73 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 75 7. References ................................................................................................................................. 77 8. Appendix ................................................................................................................................... 81 Bail Court Checklist .................................................................................................................