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It’s unlikely, however, that any of these details matter much to the innumerable women whose lives were devastated by Takahashi 30 years ago, and who have been made to re-endure the trauma they experienced each time he has been up for parole, including in 1997, 2003, 2013 and now. If we believe that the purpose of punishment is, in part, about justice for victims, it’s hard to square repeatedly forcing them to confront the possibility of their tormentor’s release with the notion that the justice system is, at the same time, working on their behalf.

The Harper government’s much-maligned “life means life” bill aimed to eliminate precisely this process of re-victimization by abolishing routine parole hearings for those convicted of the most heinous crimes (though it was targeted at convicted murderers, not necessarily serial rapists). At the time, the bill was criticized for its futility — Canada’s worst criminals never see life outside prison, anyway — but those attacking the bill ignored the fact that Canada’s definition of “life” in prison makes it excruciatingly difficult for victims to move on with their lives.

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That said, incarceration isn’t solely about retribution for victims. It’s also about removing dangerous people from the streets and, ideally, also about rehabilitation — though even using those definitions, it is still hard to see how justice is being served by Takahashi’s partial release. On his numerous previous reintegration trials, Takahashi was caught drinking alcohol, he met repeatedly with another convicted sex offender in Vancouver and he received a massage from a female massage therapist in his halfway house, all of which violated the conditions of his release. Of course, none of these transgressions were nearly as serious as the crimes of which he was convicted, but they nevertheless paint a picture of a serial rapist who has no problem skirting the rules.

Takahashi can’t, and won’t, be kept behind bars indefinitely, simply because it’s extraordinarily difficult to do so in Canada — even for violent, ruthless, repeatedly untrustworthy criminals. Unfortunately, this is what we call “justice.”

National Post

Robyn Urback • rurback@nationalpost.com | robynurback