Maximum, Medium, Minimum: A Journey Through Canadian Prisons

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

In December 1991, Julius Melnitzer pleaded guilty to 43 counts of fraud,
forgery, and attempted fraud. (The losses to banks were about $12.35
million, and to private investors an additional $14.7 million.) For this
crime, the well-known lawyer was placed in bankruptcy, permanently
disbarred, and sentenced to nine years in prison. In 1994, his marriage
over, Melnitzer was granted day parole on the ground that he was
unlikely to re-offend. Today, he is living in Toronto and paying off his
debts.

The title of this book refers to the three Ontario prisons in which
Melnitzer was incarcerated. The book itself describes life on the
inside, and is based on daily letters he was allowed to write as well as
on notes he kept. While the text suffers from an excessive use of
abbreviations and from the absence of an index, it should appeal to
prison reform advocates, some of whom may be surprised to learn that
even today prisoners are often treated like animals.

Perhaps of greater interest than the changing prisons are the changes
in Melnitzer himself. In prison, he came to understand why he became a
thief, and what he had to do to be rehabilitated. Assisting him in this
endeavor were his psychiatrist, his daughter, and some of the staff and
inmates he encountered. One puts down this very readable book encouraged
by the progress he has made, and hopeful that in describing it he has
not pulled another con.