MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES and the transfer of power away from Judges. This, simply, is how it works. Let’s take a typical child pornography case. In order to induce a plea of guilty a Crown Attorney can offer to proceed by summary conviction and only seek the mms of 90 days in jail and agree to let the person serve the sentence on weekends. Don’t want to play ball? The Crown will proceed to seek the maximum of 18 months or elect to proceed by indictment where the mms is 6 months and the maximum is 5 years. Plead guilty to one count and you’re registered as a sex offender for 10 years but found guilty of two counts you’re registered for life. No Judge involved. How much of a gambler are you?
