Jail Time - What is Enough?

Last week, two Canadians were sentenced for murdering a number of their fellow citizens. Their crimes were different in terms of who they murdered, and why. Their sentences also were different. At least one of the sentences has drawn the ire of one community.

Bruce McArthur, a self-employed gardener had plead guilty to the murder of eight men over a period of years. He was by his own account a serial murderer of gay men. One has to wonder if there were, in fact, more murders - men who have gone missing but their bodies will never be found. The judge sentenced him to eight terms of life imprisonment (concurrently) with no parole possible for 25 years. McArthur will be in his mid 90s before he can apply for parole.

Alexandre Bissonnette plead guilty to murdering six men (and injuring a number of others) in a violent attack on a mosque. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole for 40 years. Bissonnette will be in his mid-60s before he is eligible for parole.

There are some Muslims who are suggesting that Bissonnette's sentence was not harsh enough, that it does not recognize the violent and anti-Muslin nature of the crime. I understand - how can 40 years be enough to punish an individual for going to a place of worship and randomly killing people that he did not know, that he had never met? There could never be enough years left in someone's life to punish them for this kind of crime. In reading some of the comments from people who had been affected by these senseless murders - it feels as if they were looking for vengeance, that they were hoping that the judge would impose a sentence that would ensure that the individual never got out of prison.

As I have suggested elsewhere, the function of a prison sentence has three components. One is to clearly punish the individual for the crime. In both of the above cases - there is no adequate punishment for intentionally taking another person's life. Even if there was capital punishment in Canada - how could executing one person be adequate payback for killing six individuals? While there may be some individuals who would not mind losing their freedom - forty years in jail for me would be a punishment beyond imagining. Adding another twenty years on the sentence would have little effect.

The second reason for a sentence is to act as a deterrent to other individuals contemplating a similar crime. I cannot ever envision a serial murderer or some near mentally ill mass murderer ever considering what the consequences of murder would be. Deterrent may work for those thinking about robbing a bank (although banks keep on getting robbed) - but not for those who are afflicted by some sort of pathology.

The final reason for incarcerating is to keep the community safe. McArthur's sentence clearly does this. He will in all likelihood die in prison. If by some medical miracle he does live until the end of his sentence and is granted parole the first time he applies - he will not be a risk to the community.

In Bissonnette's case, it is less clear. After forty years in jail, it is unlikely that any rehabilitation will have been effective. It is possible that he will be as angry and as bitter (and as mentally ill) when he is 67 as he is now. Keeping him in jail forever would save the children of the murdered men from having to go to a parole hearing and explain to the tribunal why he should not be released. But what if something happens to him prison and there is a change. Maybe, after forty years he will have shown that he has the capacity to be an agent for positive change. Should he not have a chance? But in all likelihood, if he ever leaves prison, he will leave as a person so heavily institutionalized that he will have lost all capacity to live independently or in any way contribute to his community.

There can be no sentence that would be an adequate response to intentional murder. The families of the victims will never be healed by the consequences given to the offender. That is not the role of the court.

Given the limits of our legal system and our collective need to work towards a society that is less violent - the sentences - the two men will most likely spend the rest of their lives incarcerated. That is all we can expect. The healing is the job of those of us who are free to live in the community.