If you’re going to have cannabis, paraphernalia, or a gun in your car, keep it out of plain sight.
IT’S VERY SIMPLE
Who do we turn to when the police are the corrupt criminals?
“The new details released Wednesday show that the alleged corruption within the city’s police force is even worse than what was described five months ago.
It is not just a single rogue cop, but a coterie of allegedly corrupt officers who appeared to have little fear of being found out, given how openly they discussed the allegedly criminal behaviour with their colleagues.”
Michael Spratt explains the purpose behind Doug Ford’s intrusion into federal law.
“Ford and Downey have passed a law they know will be struck down, so they can launch a performative attack when it is. And in doing so, they deliberately undermine confidence in courts, plow under the Charter and civil liberties, and use real human suffering to manufacture a political grievance.
Ontario’s cash bail law will be found unconstitutional. And when Ford inevitably expresses outrage that a judge has done exactly what everyone knew a judge would do, remember this: that won’t mean his plan failed. It will mean it worked exactly as intended.”
Canadian debt is shaping who can afford to defend the law
Public-interest law cannot thrive if graduates cannot afford to pursue it
The road to the professions of law and medicine has always been long and expensive. They are not for everyone. The necessary standards are not easily achieved without long, hard work and sacrifice, but, if attained, they result in a certain level of privilege. Higher education in the populace is undoubtedly important to the advancement and development of our society, but when a person’s ability to pay the cost of admission is more determinative than merit, should we collectively, through the government, alleviate some of the hurdles to enable more students of merit to achieve these goals?
Is the concept of universal education of less merit than the concept of universal healthcare?
In my day, tuition was not as expensive as it is now, and the government provided a combination of grants and loans that assisted in making it possible. Now they have taken away the grants.
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF DOUG FORD’S FORAY INTO CRIMINAL LAW
Excerpts from The Star: Bail for a $1 coin? Inside the chaotic first week of Ontario’s controversial cash bail system
In courtrooms across the Toronto area this week, the Star has watched as judges and justices of the peace have at times pushed back against the Ontario government’s new bail regime. In practice, the rules are being followed by asking for much lower and more readily available cash deposits. The rules are also being met with considerable confusion, and even defiance. In one case, in Milton on Wednesday, a Superior Court justice refused outright to enforce cash bail — a stunning rebuke to the province.
In Milton this past week, Superior Court Justice Scott Cowan jumped the gun by releasing a woman charged with human trafficking without requiring her to pay a cash deposit. In court, the Star sat near the woman’s parents — retirees who appeared tense and visibly strained, seated quietly in the public gallery.
Within hours of the Star’s story on the Milton case, some commentators labelled Cowan an “activist judge” overstepping his authority.
“That’s not the case,” Oshawa-based lawyer Krystal Manitius said of such criticism after a judge this week agreed to release her client — homeless at the time of alleged kidnapping offences — on his own recognizance and a $50 deposit.
People are innocent before proven guilty and have a constitutional right to reasonable bail, she said.
The other key concept is that pre-trial detention, as dictated by the Supreme Court of Canada, is supposed to be a last resort.
One practical reason for this is that the province’s correctional facilities, many overcrowded, have run at average capacities of 113 to 130 per cent. So there are few available beds. And jailing more people is expensive for taxpayers, too. In 2022, the federal Justice Department noted that bail supervision and verification programs cost about $3 a day, while custody costs $135 a day per inmate.
Even so, more than 80 per cent of inmates in Ontario jails are awaiting trial or sentencing, and are legally innocent.
While some may believe bail courts are filled with scary, violent offenders, the vast majority of people in these courts are facing relatively minor offences. They may come from low-income communities, have limited means, and addiction or mental health issues. Many find themselves before the courts over and over again.
The system now requires administrative work to process even a one‑dollar cash payment. And if a client doesn’t hand over that loonie, he could be charged and face that fine of up to $5,000. That’s a new hearing, and hours of court time. In other words, the government is spending exponentially more to enforce the penalty than the original amount.
Lesley Pasquino, president of the Ontario Crown Attorneys’ Association … (of) Ontario’s 1,200 Crowns across 54 courthouses in Ontario, (says) There can be 10, 20, 30 hearings in a single morning, with police “still pulling evidence together” and defence counsel emailing at 6 a.m. to ask prosecutors, “What’s your position on bail?” In that environment, she argues, demanding cash up front adds “a whole other layer” to the analysis.
She also wonders if the government is so intent on tightening bail and prioritizing public safety, why are Crowns simultaneously being told to curtail cross‑examinations of sureties and compress bail hearings into 30 minutes?
A June 1 directive issued by the Ontario Court of Justice spelling out those new orders is “completely inconsistent” with the premier and attorney general’s push for stricter bail, she says.
“LILLEY: Carney-appointed judge rejects Ontario cash bail rule in human trafficking caseToronto Sun”This sort of headline really bothers me because it is inferring, American style, that our Judges are not impartial and are beholden or loyal to whatever political party or politician appointed them. It is incorrect, misleading and offensive. Canada is not America. Let’s keep it that way.
Beginning on Monday, if you’re arrested, you will only be granted bail if you pay cash to the Province of Ontario. That’s right – the poor, the homeless, the ill and the disadvantaged will be jailed because they don’t have money. This is Doug FORD’S Ontario, even though criminal law is federal jurisdiction, not provincial. This is unconstitutional, hateful and a step towards Trumpism. After all, FORD has to populate his new jails. Speak up about this tragedy. Let Doug FORD know!
THE POLITICS OF FEAR – crime is rampant and you should be afraid but we’ll fix it by being “tough on crime”. Now you’re safe. You’re welcome.
“Multiple political parties have concluded that “being tough on crime is a winning strategy that has public appeal and will gather them votes and so they are leaning into it,” Latimer said.
“Rather than correcting misperceptions about the actual levels of crime, they’re feeding the misperception.”
OUR COURTS ARE THE LAST BASTION OF DEFENCE BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS AND POLICE MISCONDUCT.
Recent headlines in the news in Toronto: 1. Charges stayed because a police officer decided to gratuitously kick a suspect in the face while on the ground, knocking out a tooth and breaking his jaw. 2. Police officers charged with criminal offences for running over individuals on ebikes with their cruiser. 3. The “public must pay a sex offender’s $50,000 legal bill due to deliberately uncooperative Toronto cop.”
Does police misconduct seem to be on the increase? Is there any apparent reason?
My lawyer son gifted me this voluminous legal treatise on the Maritime Law of Liechtenstein. I have read it many times now and I think I’m grasping not only the basic concept but also some of the many nuances.
