Criminal Defence Law Blog
It seems so obvious and humane.
A report from the John Howard Society says many people with mental illness become caught in the criminal justice system for lack of community support and programming.
Source: Criminal justice system no place for mentally ill, John Howard Society says – Sudbury – CBC News
When the facts and evidence don’t fit your ideology, ignore it. The Conservative Bill C-14 gets “tough” on the mentally ill. “The numbers of mentally ill individuals in the criminal justice system is on the rise. Harsher treatment of NCR offenders designated as “high risk” is likely to encourage defence lawyers to ensure their mentally ill clients are prosecuted under regular justice system rules, where they receive no court-ordered treatment and can be back on the streets sooner. The effect could therefore be to undermine public safety rather than enhance it.”
A law enacted last year allows courts to impose harsher terms on mentally ill offenders declared not criminally responsible and was sold as a measure that would improve public safety. But an unpublished Justice Department report says the legislation could have the opposite effect.
How quickly policies, once enacted, change. Harper’s new power to strip Canadians of citizenship and deport them now also applies to native born citizens for the first time in Canadian history. “But in a strange way, the Conservatives are equal-opportunity revokers. The Gaya case demonstrates that when the government is determined to banish those it considers miscreants, it will simply call them dual nationals — whether they are or not. Under its new law, the Conservative government does not have to prove Gaya is the citizen of another country. He has to prove to Immigration Minister Chris Alexander that he is not.” Note that Justice Durno did not consider this guy to be an irredeemable villain.
Saad Gaya was born in Montreal and holds no other passport. The government plans to exile him anyway.
Source: Conservatives move to revoke citizenship from home-grown Canadian: Walkom | Toronto Star
The Supreme Court of Canada has stuck “a balance between a Muslim woman’s desire to testify wearing a veil and her accused molester’s right to see her face in a fair trial. The ruling should force the Conservative federal government to reverse its requirement for women in niqab to remove the face-veil when taking the ceremonial oath of citizenship.”
The Supreme Court of Canada tried to strike a balance between a Muslim woman’s desire to testify wearing a veil and her accused molesters’ right to see her face in a fair trial.
Source: Supreme Court niqab ruling: Veil can be worn to testify in some cases | Toronto Star
Inequities are the result of getting “tough on crime” without proper safeguards. For those of you that harbour the attitude that you have nothing to worry about because you haven’t done anything wrong, you better read this. The government’s “us vs. them” approach to criminal law turns all of us into “them” and causes the police to view all of us as the enemy. “The roughly $5,000 in fees and charges it costs most drivers is little compared to the often expensive collateral consequences, such as loss of a job, that can result from an IRP.”
Five-years after Victoria introduced the nation’s toughest anti-drunk-driving laws, the controversy over the inequities of instant curbside justice continues. Documents obtained from a freedom of information request show numerous B.C. motorists have been wrongly handed stiff Immediate Roadside Prohibitions for impaired driving as a result of improperly calibrated screening devices.
Source: Ian Mulgrew: B.C. drunk-driving law looks flimsier than ever
We often don’t consider how far ranging the effects of such tragedies are on secondary victims. It’s something to think about.
A top paramedic says the fatal crash that claimed the lives of three children and their grandfather north of Toronto has had an unprecedented impact on the well being of first responders.
Source: Paramedics suffer PTSD after crash that killed kids, grandfather: EMS | CTV Toronto News
BLASPHEMY – Section 296 of the Criminal Code makes it a criminal offence to publish a blasphemous libel. It does not define “publish” and it does not define “blasphemy”. Do we even know what blasphemy is? How is this consistent with religious freedom? Why do we even have this law?
By Derek James From It’s been 10 years since the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published the now notorious cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The cartoons were republished by newspapers around the world and more than 200 people died as protests and riots erupted in response. Prime Minister Stephen Harper responded, saying he regretted that Canadian newspapers had…
Source: Opinion: The hypocrisy of Canada’s anti-blasphemy law | Calgary Herald
“The Legal problems of Canadians are not evenly distributed. Data indicates that a large cross-section of persons who experience legal problems are among the poorest in Canadian society. Legal aid is one of the most important institutions for meeting the legal needs of the poor in Canada. Most legal aid plans, however, provide little service in areas of law outside of criminal and family matters and, because of limited funding, struggle to sufficiently address deficiencies in other legal service areas.”
The Legal problems of Canadians are not evenly distributed. Data from the 2014 CFCJ survey – Everyday Legal Problems in Canada – indicates that a disproportionate percentage of persons who experience legal problems bear the burden of a signific
THE ASSAULT POLICE PLOY – It’s an old one. Cop assaults person and charges that person with assaulting police. So this guy was sitting in his uncle’s apartment. Cops knock on the door and tell him to turn the music down. He does so and gives his identification (?) but that’s not good enough. Cops want to come into the residence and search around without a warrant. The guy says no. He takes out his phone to record this when the cop physically knocks the phone out of his hand and arrests him for assaulting police. Cops seize the phone and it is never seen again, but the video clip was automatically uploaded. On seeing the video the Judge questions officers’ honesty, finding their testimony “deliberately misleading.” Guy is found not guilty. What happens to the officers??
Cellphone went missing after police took it, but uploaded file exonerated accused man and left judge questioning officers’ honesty, finding their testimony “deliberately misleading.”
Source: Phone video clears man charged with assaulting cop — even after phone disappears | Toronto Star
What do you think of it?
Also known as a bean bag gun, the sock gun is a regular shotgun that, instead of bullets, has been loaded with a kind of round that inflicts pain but does not penetrate the body. It’s referred to as an impact round.Each “bullet” contains a soft, granular material contained in a Kevlar sac, like a tiny bean bag.
Source: ‘Sock gun’ joins less-lethal arsenal in use by Toronto police | Toronto Star
