Annual Roger Hood Lecture

“How do institutions think about and respond to calls for increased accountability to the law and human rights?” Professor Kelly Hannah-Moffat from the University of Toronto provided answers to this question at the Centre for Criminology's annual Roger Hood Lecture on 23 May. The title of the lecture was Moving Targets: Reputational Risk, Rights and Accountability in Punishment.

Kelly Hannah-Moffat centered her talk on 19 year old Ashely Smith’s death in custody, which she used as case study to examine institutional behaviours and responses. In December 2013 Ashley’s death was found to be homicide, which belies the fact that despite Canada’s historical concern for human rights and the attempted regulation of those rights, positive outcomes for prisoners have not resulted.

A podcast of the lecture is available on the Faculty website and a summary and commentaries are available on the Centre for Criminology's blog.