In order for this headline not to be misleading consider what “stayed or withdrawn” means. “To capture these cases, Statistics Canada groups together stays (where criminal proceedings are halted), withdrawals, dismissals, discharges at preliminary inquiry, and referrals to alternative or restorative justice programs. Following Statistics Canada, I refer to these outcomes collectively as “stayed or …
Author archives: Dennis Reeve
THE YOUTH CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT – In view of the recent arrests of young people as guns for hire and a 12-year-old who ran down a police officer, it’s good to know what the maximum penalties for serious offences are under the Act.First degree murder – 10 yearsSecond degree murder – 7 yearsIt is possible that, if the youth is 14 years of age or older, the Crown can apply for a Judge to impose an adult sentence, in which case the YCJA maximums do not apply.
WAIT! WHAT? WE’RE GETTING MIXED MESSAGES.
Get tough on bail with the new, stricter federal bail laws? Deny bail in repeat and violent offenders? We already do that. Pressure the provinces to provide more funding and resources? Definitely needed. The article says that the legislation responds to “rising levels of violent crime”. Still, it later reports “In the latest available data, …
Continue reading “WAIT! WHAT? WE’RE GETTING MIXED MESSAGES.”
HERE IS WHAT WE ALL HAVE TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.
Its function is to determine if a crime has been committed and if so, to impose punishment. It is a system of PUNISHMENT, not healing. A contested criminal trial is a battle- a war. No participant emerges without harm. It is not a place for healing. https://www.law360.ca/ca/articles/2489060
The “overwhelming disappointment,” she wrote, is believing that in Canada, “we would be better than this. “The actions of the (Maplehurst) officers prove sadly that we are not.”
THE JAIL SUBJECTED HIM TO “HORRIFIC TORTURE” AND “VENGEFUL COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT” OF NEARLY 200 INMATES. THE JUDGE STAYED THE CHARGES OF ROBBERY OF A JEWELRY STORE WITH A LOADED GUN. DO YOU THINK THAT WAS THE CORRECT DECISION? By Brendan KennedyInvestigative Reporter In the latest consequence of the Maplehurst prisoner abuse scandal, a Brampton judge has thrown …
CREDIT TO THIS MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT WHO UNDERSTANDS THE PROBLEM
While it is true that many people who are charged with criminal offences are a present danger to society, our government tries to solve our social problems of addiction, poverty, homelessness, abuse, and so on, dumping them all together in the criminal justice system. Any attempts to address the source of such “criminal” conduct need …
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A WORTHWHILE RESEARCH STUDY:
Reforming remand court requires structural, not superficial, changes.
Once again Michael Spratt once again hit’s the nail on the head. “Criminal cases begin in the legal equivalent of an airport holding lounge. A bureaucratic purgatory where accused people, lawyers, prosecutors, and judges all wait for the justice system to slowly boot. Remand court is where a case lives before a plea or trial …
Continue reading “Reforming remand court requires structural, not superficial, changes.”
THE ONTARIO CROWN ATTORNEYS’ ASSOCIATION DESCRIBES HER AS “ONE OF OUR FINEST CROWNS” BUT JUDGES DISAGREE WITH THEM. IT’S NOT THE FIRST TIME
Court tosses another case due to conduct of Toronto Crown attorney Marnie Goldenberg. Judge cites ‘unacceptable negligence’ By Jacques Gallant Courts and Justice Reporter A veteran Crown attorney who caused a criminal case to collapse after she berated a Toronto police officer in a courthouse hallway has seen a second case thrown out in the same …
IN THE COURTS ATTEMPTS TO PREVENT STEREOTYPICAL REASONING THEY HAVE RULED THAT A MYSOGENIST IS NO LESS WORTHY OF BELIEF IN DENYING A SEXUAL ASSAULT
Reliance on Toronto man’s ‘insulting’ misogyny was a ‘miscarriage of justice.’ Sex assault conviction tossed By Jacques GallantCourts and Justice Reporter A Toronto judge was wrong to rely on an apartment building superintendent’s misogyny when she convicted him of sexually assaulting a tenant, an appeal court has ruled, ordering a new trial. The tenant, whose identity …