The ReeveLaw Blog

COMPLAINTS AGAINST JUDGES – Fortunately, these days, the quality of criminal court Judges we have results in few legitimate complaints against them however when such complaints have been affirmed don’t you think we should be entitled to know the details? Justice, even when it involves Judges, must be seen to be done.

Ontario Judicial Council rebuffs a bid by the Toronto Star and Criminal Lawyers’ Association to make reviews of judges more transparent.

Source: Secrecy to continue when complaints are raised against judges | Toronto Star

ROADSIDE SUSPENSIONS – the status quo remains if the screening devices are reliable and there is a meaningful avenue of appeal. I’m not sure we have those safeguards here in Ontario.

B.C.’s police power to issue immediate 90-day suspensions deemed unconstitutional

Source: Supreme court clears drunk-driving crackdown for provinces – The Globe and Mail

Ontario’s Court of Appeal has imposed a 12 day jail sentence for possession of 97 grams of marijuana that would otherwise now require a minimum one year jail sentence under Harper’s tough on crime laws. Harper’s laws are out of touch.

Ontario’s appeal court has lowered a Sarnia man’s one-year jail sentence for possession of marijuana for trafficking to 12 days.In a decision released Thursday the appeal court stated the Crown agreed that the one-year sentence, imposed on Jan. 14 for James Munroe, was unfit. The sentence had been imposed due to a misapprehension of the law that th

Source: One-year sentence reduced to 12 days | Sarnia Observer

“In terms of social drug policy, the “results confirm that the risk of cannabis may have been overestimated in the past,” the researchers said in the report, which was funded by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Program and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.”

Cannabis was also found to be the drug least likely to kill you of all 10 commonly used substances analyzed in the study published recently in Scientific Reports journal.

Source: New Research Suggests Pot Is the Least Deadly Recreational Drug | VICE News

“Two years ago, 30 armed tactical officers woke Dawson in his home, put him face down and cuffed him while aiming guns at his head. “They had assault rifles pointed at my pregnant wife,” Dawson said. “It was terrifying.” Since then he’s spent thousands in legal fees.” The court process took 2 years, he plead guilty and was fined $10. Yes…ten dollars. Apparently once again Harper’s mandatory minimum sentence of jail was seen to be unconstitutional – and for good reason.

NEWMARKET — A huge undercover police sting that saw a medical pot-grower dragged through the courts for two years ended with a grand slam in court Thursday — a $10 fine.

Source: Grow-op sting, lengthy court case ends with whopping $10 fine | Toronto & GTA |

Yes I know it’s BuzzFeed but it’s true, domestic violence and abuse is not a “gender specific offence” as some would have us believe. Men suffer from it at the hands of women in silence and shame.

“My ex-girlfriend was physically and mentally abusive, whenever I told someone they told me to man up and get over it, I never felt so alone.”

Source: 19 Heartbreaking Confessions From Men Suffering From Emotional Abuse

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.

Source: Unpublished Justice Department study critical of not criminally responsible law – Politics – CBC News

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