House arrest should be considered more often, defence lawyer argues
A St. John's defence lawyer says she's like to see house arrest considered as a viable option more frequently in Newfoundland and Labrador, on the heels of a case where a mother with a methadone-addicted baby was given house arrest for the sake of the child.
Earlier this week, Tara Maher, 29, was given a sentence of 23 months house arrest for a series of crimes that would normally have landed her in prison.
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The house arrest was given so she could care for and breastfeed her baby, who was born dependent on methadone, in order to wean the child off.
Lawyer Erin Breen says because of changes to minimum sentences in the Criminal Code of Canada the federal government made about three years ago, judges have fewer opportunities to hand down a house arrest sentence — a change Breen says is doing more harm than good.
"It's an effective tool that I think was a mistake for the government to remove that tool for the court."
Breen, who frequently defends people facing drug charges, said anyone found guilty of an offence of trafficking a certain amount must be given a prison sentence, according to recent changes in the Criminal Code.
That means even if a judge believes house arrest could be the best option, they are unable to give that sentence.
"You put all of this evidence before the court and then the court makes its decision," she said.
"I feel that we should trust our judges, that they should have the discretion when the person comes before them to say, 'This person does not need to be in an institution.'"
High demand for programs
Meanwhile, local pediatrician Anne Drover said she's concerned about the prescription drug abuse among pregnant women in the province.
According to Drover, an associate professor of pediatrics at Memorial University, the number of women with substance abuse problems who find themselves pregnant has tripled over the last 10 years.
It was something that we saw maybe every so often 10 years ago, and now we see it every week.- Anne Drover
"It was something that we saw maybe every so often 10 years ago, and now we see it every week," said Drover.
Drover said there is currently a three-year program to monitor and assist mothers who want to be on a methadone program, but the services available aren't meeting the demand.
She added there is a fairly long wait list for mothers to get on the program, but she guesses the numbers are actually higher than reflected because of the social stigma associated with trying to get addiction help while pregnant.
In addition, Drover said there's a fairly high number of mothers who don't complete the program.
"Up until about 10 years ago this wasn't even one of the criteria for being followed at the provincial prenatal program, but we had to add it in because we were seeing so many," said Drover.
"There's something missing with that program. I don't want to say it's the moms who are just not following up, to me it says the moms go, it's not serving their needs, so that's why they're not coming back."