Sentencing rules in the federal government's new young offender law are so complex, officials have increasingly resorted to using actuarial "wheels" to figure out jail terms and have freed some youth either too early or too late.

[. . . .] Confusion among those who have to implement judges' sentences has reigned throughout the country, say the officials' union leaders.

"I've heard stories of people who thought someone was getting six months more custody, but when we did all the figuring out with the wheel, it came out to nine days," said Bob Eaton, union representative for many Ontario probation officers.

"If the judiciary says someone should be in custody for three months, they should be in there for three months. [. . . .]

The problems crop up after judges mete out punishment under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, implemented a year ago today, and officials try to work out how much of the sentence is supposed to be spent behind bars and how much in the community.

"The legislation introduced methods of calculating sentences that are entirely different from the [old] Young Offenders Act sentences and adult sentences," said Anne Machowski-Smith of the Ontario Children's Services Ministry.

[. . . .] The difficulty in calculating sentences has helped fuel another emerging problem: apparently dramatic disparities between punishments handed out by different judges for similar offences under the new act, Mr. Luff said.

[. . . .] The new act was implemented quietly last April 1 to replace the Young Offenders Act. It is designed to steer youthful criminals away from the formal justice system and jail, based on a belief that incarceration does little to deter most young offenders. At every stage, from arrest to trial, officials must consider diverting the youth from custody and into community service, counselling or some other alternative. [emphasis mine]

[. . . .] One-third of all jail terms must be served in the community, while some sentences add a probation period at the end -- as well as the one-third served in the community, she said. Further intricacies come when more than one sentence is combined.