Criminal Defence Law Blog
When the Prime Minister declares an activity to be legal the prosecution of that activity never serves the public interest. The courts are questioning why prosecutors proceed with these cases. As more and more people with medical exemptions are growing their own marijuana, if the government doesn’t soon seize control of regulating this as a legal industry they will lose the opportunity.
Source: Judges question simple marijuana possession cases as legality remains in limbo | National Post
A decade of a ‘lock them up and throw away the keys’ approach has left Canada’s criminal justice system broken and public safety at risk. Between 2005 and 2015, the federal inmate population grew by 10 per cent, however, crime rates have fallen every year. The growth was caused by steady increases of admissions of indigenous people, visible minorities, the mentally ill, and women. We have eviscerated social programs, health care, and educational services in this country.
Source: Tories’ ‘tough-on-crime’ approach has broken Canada’s justice system, say experts |
The Province will now provide complainants, but only those alleging a sexual assault, 4 hours of free legal advice. I wonder if that will encourage or discourage complainants from proceeding? I guess it depends on what type of lawyers the Province hires to give such advice.
‘It’s also a tacit acknowledgement that the system doesn’t work for survivors of sexual violence,’ one expert said of the effort to level the legal playing field
Whether an in-custody accused appears in court in handcuffs, leg shackles or other restraints is up to the Judge to decide. “Every accused, whether in custody or not, has the right to appear in court free of any restraint. A blanket policy of presenting in-custody accused in leg shackles and handcuffs in court is illegal, may amount to a civil assault and give rise to an award of damages.”
The “victim surcharge,” is a sum levied against persons for each offence they are sentenced for to raise money for victim services. It is mandatory. It is either $100, $200 or 30% of any fine imposed. Our lower court has once again found it unconstitutional because it “has an adverse impact on the mentally disabled because of the class characteristic that mentally disabled persons are disproportionately poor. It discriminates against the mentally disabled. It leaves many of them under ongoing, if not perpetual, undischarged criminal sanction.”
Source: CanLII – 2016 ONCJ 108 (CanLII)
We grow better quality weed than Mexico anyway. “The economics of the cannabis industry show us that with healthy competition in the market, prices drop, quality rises, violence diminishes, and peaceful transactions increase.” Note an emphasis on HEALTHY COMPETITION. “The Colorado model has proven that legalization reduces crime rates, cuts prices, pushes unfavorable competition out of the market, provides cleaner products with heightened transparency, and increases the standard of living for society as a whole.”
A massive problem created by the drug war is now being solved by legalizing weed.
Source: Legalizing Weed Has Done What 1 Trillion Dollars and a 40 Year War Couldn’t
While our ex-chief of police is taking so long trying to figure out how to do this “right”, in the hiatus between declaration and implementation of legality it is being sorted out in fact. Municipalities are quite capable of licensing, regulating and taxing the distribution of marijuana. All we need the federal government to do is remove the marijuana schedule from the CDSA.
A new medical marijuana dispensary has cropped up in Lower Lonsdale, causing concern for some parents whose kids attend martial arts classes a few doors down.
Now that we have a government that is actually interested in making informed evidence based decisions it’s time to reinstate a Law Reform Commission in Canada, like we used to have, to guide us as a society in having laws that reflect our values. If you don’t know or don’t remember what the LRCC was, this article will inform you.
Not only must one question the ability of a court to order someone to build something for a government agency one must also question the advisability of forcing them to build something as dangerous as a digital nuclear weapon. Here is Apple’s position: “The government is asking Apple to hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers — including tens of millions of American citizens — from sophisticated hackers and cybercriminals.”
A Message to Our Customers
Source: Customer Letter – Apple
