In the Shadows of the Punitive State: Management and Control of Uncertainty Pre-Trial

• In Event: Courtroom Policies and Practices

Abstract

The state employs a variety of preventive techniques that have extended its authority and jurisdiction to monitor and control the potentially risky subject. This paper uses the bail process in Canada to explore the punitive mechanisms employed at the pre-conviction stage. Through the use of pre-trial detention and conditions of release in the community the state is expanding its punitive reach by encroaching on pretrial liberty and punishing accused prior to a finding of guilt. While pre-trial processes are coercive and may be punitive, they are not conceptualized as punishment. As a result, the bail process blurs the boundaries between those who are to be presumed innocent and those who have been found guilty and are therefore punishable.

Author

• Nicole Myers, Simon Fraser University