CAN WE TRUST CSI TYPE EVIDENCE?

CAN WE TRUST CSI TYPE EVIDENCE? – “I have concluded that the hair-strand drug and alcohol testing used by the Motherisk Drug Testing Laboratory between 2005 and 2015 was inadequate and unreliable for use in child protection and criminal proceedings and that the Laboratory did not meet internationally recognized forensic standards. The use of the …

IMMIGRATION CONSEQUENCES OF A CRIMINAL CONVICTION – an update

Take note that if you are not a Canadian citizen and are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 6 months or more, our recent “Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act” has removed your right to appeal a deportation order. Last November, we published a post about the intersection of criminal and immigration law, and …

TOUGH CASES MAKE BAD LAW – Tragic circumstances do not justify a hasty or overbroad legislative response.

TOUGH CASES MAKE BAD LAW – Tragic circumstances do not justify a hasty or overbroad legislative response. From the lawyer who argued the case: ” The government of the day — which was heading for an election — was not willing to throw the police and the prosecution service under the bus for no charges …

From ‘Raving Maniacs’ to the ‘Prince of Pot’: A History of Weed in Canada | VICE News

A HISTORY OF WEED IN CANADA – It’s decades past the time to stop criminalizing a non-violent activity. The Canadian Le Dain commission of 1973 concluded that “the criminalization of cannabis had no scientific basis.” “continued criminalization of cannabis remains unjustified based on scientific data on the danger it poses.” In 2015 the CBC reported …

OUR JAILS AND PROBATION SERVICES ARE IN CRISIS – “

“Just last week, inmates rioted at the Toronto South Detention Centre, setting fires, causing a flood and sending five correctional officers to hospital. On Monday, we saw a riot and hostage-taking at Thunder Bay Jail. Probation and parole officers have the highest caseloads in the country, while lethal weapons are being brought into parole offices …

NOT EVERY BARRAGE OF POLICE GUNFIRE IS EXCESSIVE FORCE 

Let’s not forget that the police have to deal with some very violent and dangerous people sometimes. Check out this recent video from Seattle. Dashcam footage from police cruisers shows the suspect headed the wrong way on a one-way street, crossing over a median, and generally driving like a madman before he dies in a …

REFUSING TO SNITCH

REFUSING TO SNITCH is not an aggravating factor in sentencing however snitching may be a mitigating factor …. however, once you get to prison……  “First, to say otherwise risks the prospect of false accusations,” he wrote, because it gives accused people incentive to lie. “Second, it would likely put many accused who are being sent …