Empty Promises: Parliament, The Supreme Court and the Sentencing of Aboriginal Offenders.

Source: (2001) Saskatchewan Law Review. 64: 137.

For a number of years the over-representation of Aboriginal people in Canada’s prisons has been of concern to many people both inside and outside the criminal justice system. Recently, debate has focused on a specific provision of the Criminal Code pertaining to the sentencing of Aboriginal offenders. This sentencing provision has been the subject of two lengthy Supreme Court decisions. In this paper, Stenning and Roberts review the history of this provision, as well as current judicial interpretations and applications of it. They do so in light of research concerning the nature, extent, and causes of Aboriginal over-representation in the correctional system. On these bases, they propose an alternative model for considering the plight of socially disadvantaged offenders in sentencing decisions.