Unequal Justice: Experiences and outcomes of young people in Ontario’s youth bail system report and interactive website outline the findings from a unique research project conducted by the John Howard Society of Ontario on the front end of our youth justice system. The findings come from an analysis of a decade’s worth of court and pre-trial detention admissions data and extensive consultations with stakeholders and young people with lived experience, and indicate that troubling trends persist in the youth bail system particularly for vulnerable and BIPOC youth. The report also present opportunities to strengthen the youth bail system and alternatives to incarceration to keep young people out of jail.

Reasonable Bail? highlights how current bail practices challenge both the legally enshrined presumptions of innocence and reasonable bail. JHS Ontario Researchers analyzed bail conditions assigned to a sample of Ontarians released on bail, which revealed troubling patterns of overuse of bail conditions. The report provides a number of recommendations on how to improve bail processes in Ontario, both in terms of efficiency and respect for due process rights.