Law Commons^™

Making Civil Immigration Detention “Civil,” And Examining The Emerging U.S. Civil Detention Paradigm, Mark Noferi

Mark L Noferi

In 2009, the Obama Administration began to reform its sprawling immigration detention system by asking the question, “How do we make civil detention civil?” Five years later, after opening an explicitly-named “civil detention center” in Texas to public criticism from both sides, the Administration’s efforts have stalled. But its reforms, even if fully implemented, would still resemble lower-security criminal jails.

This symposium article is the first to comprehensively examine the Administration’s efforts to implement “truly civil” immigration detention, through new standards, improved conditions, and greater oversight. It does so by undertaking the first descriptive comparison of the U.S.’s two largest …

"Locking Up Those Dangerous Indians For Good: A Critical Examination Of Canadian Dangerous Offender Legislation As Applied To Aboriginal Persons", David Milward

Dr. David Milward

This article examines the systemic reasons behind Aboriginal over-representation as Dangerous Offenders (DO) subject to' indefinite detention. Colonialism has left behind various social traumas that continue to devastate Aboriginal communities. It is not surprising that significant numbers of Aboriginal persons accumulate lengthy violent criminal histories such that they come under the radar of the DO regime. One approach this article will stress is a call for greater emphasis on preventative social programming, and less emphasis on incarceration after the fact. This may lead to less Aboriginal over-incarceration generally, but also less Aboriginal over-representation as DOs, and less demand on resources …