International Conference on Penal Abolition
The Movement to Abolish Prisons is as old as prisons themselves. In the
19th century, voices like Thomas Buxton of the British Parliament and
Victor Hugo of France condemned the prison system and retributive
justice. In 1976 Gilbert Cantor, a former editor of the Philadelphia
Bar magazine, wrote in that prestigious magazine: "If our entire
criminal justice apparentus were simply closed down...there would
probably be a decrease in the amount of behaviour now labeled
'criminal.'
The time has come to abolish the game of crime and punishment, and to
substitute a paradigm of resitutition and responsibility. The goal is
the civilization of our treatment of offenders."
Ruth Morris of Rittenhouse, Canada 1997
In 1981, the Canadian Quaker Committee on Jails and Justice planted the
seed that grew to become ICOPA. Since 1982, eight international
conferences have been held in all regions of the world.
A full ICOPA history
An Introduction and History - Ruth Morris [link]
ICOPA XI
The Eleventh Conference on Penal Abolition was held in Hobart, Tasmania - Feb 2006
ICOPA X
The Tenth Conference on Penal Abolition was held in Lagos, Nigeria - Sept/Oct 2002
ICOPA IX
The Nineth Conference on Penal Abolition was held in Torronto, Canada - Spring 2000
ICOPA VIII
The Eighth Conference on Penal Abolition was held in Auckland, New Zealand - February 1997.
Conferences VIII, VII, VI and V
The Abolition Foundation
ICOPA founders have established a small trust to continue the conferences and build the movement for penal abolition.
ICOPA needs your help and support.
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