The ReeveLaw Blog

If you’ve applied for a pardon, give it up. You’re not going to get one. Harper has abolished pardons in his no rehabilitation, once a criminal always a criminal, no forgiveness for past mistakes ideology. You can reapply at more than 4X the price for a “record suspension” but again, don’t hold your breath.

The Parole Board of Canada says it can no longer dedicate its resources to clearing a backlog of old pardon applications, leaving thousands of former offenders in legal limbo.

Source: Funding runs out for clearing Canada’s pardon application backlog

If we can put our moral judgements aside for a bit we could gain some insight into the real life of night labourers.

In every strip club I’ve worked in, it’s the same: We’re exploited.

Source: Stop Stealing From Strippers – The New York Times

Now, having said that, I’m confused:

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2015/08/14/amnesty-prostitution-ruling-is-heartless-mallick.html

 

The minimum fine for distracted driving in Ontario is set to increase to nearly $500 starting next month, police tell 680 NEWS.

Source: Drive distracted? Minimum penalty hits nearly $500

The Ontario Superior Court  decides it’s okay for police to pretend to be and pose as a news reporter, so now if you think you’re talking to a journalist you may find out you’re talking to a cop. However, if a journalist pretended to be a cop I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t be okay.

Media groups may appeal Ontario court decision, arguing such police tactics will cause a chill in press freedom.

Source: Judge tosses Charter challenge against cops posing as journalists | Toronto Star

While jail sentences for corporate executives convicted of criminal offences aren’t at all unusual anymore, it’s only in the last two years or so that courts have been incarcerating executives and managers for regulatory offences, particularly for occupational health and safety violations.

Source: Focus: Courts getting more aggressive on safety offences

The

“Canada used to be admired internationally for its approach to corrections, particularly its treatment of young offenders and its progressive rehabilitative programs. Today, Canada is moving in the other direction — establishing mandatory minimum sentences, incarcerating more offenders, making it harder for them to obtain parole and ensuring that the conditions of their incarceration are harsher.”Former Toronto police chief Bill Blair says ” Prison should be reserved for “truly dangerous” individuals.”

Myth 1: Tough-on-crime policy is about promoting public safety.

Myth 2: Tough-on-crime policy is about helping victims.

Myth 3: Tough-on-crime policy is good use of taxpayer dollars.

Myth 4: Heavier enforcement controls crime rates.

Myth 5: People who break the law deserve long, punitive sentences.

Conservatives swear their crime policies have made Canadians safer. On the contrary: it’s the one area we can safely say Canadians are less safe and paying too much for the privilege.

Source: Five myths about the tough-on-crime agenda | rabble.ca

They’ve been around for a long time but people still get fooled by the prospect of easy money. I had a client who was scammed and charged with fraud. I was able to convince the Crown to withdraw the charge as he was really the victim and was able to show through LawPro statistics that many lawyers have been duped by the same scam. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

At the end of the day, you need to be smart. Not every scammer follows the same Nigerian prince formula. Lawyers are specific targets for scammers. Always do your due diligence to avoid being scammed.

Source: Even Smart Attorneys Fall for These Dumb Scams

Did you know? If you, your son or daughter, perhaps while attending college or university grows 6 marijuana plants in their closet or balcony and intends to smoke it with a room mate or friend, he or she will be sentenced to a mandatory minimum of 6 months in jail. No ifs, ands or buts. No more university. A criminal record for life. No future pardon. Nothing you can do about it. Nothing a Judge can do about it. No mercy. This is justice in Canada.

 “The government losses are actually a result of the passing of more legislation that falls outside of the mainstream of opinion in the justice system of what is acceptable. The government has been pushing the boundaries not the court.” “For violent crimes, the court is more law-and-order and responsibility driven. For what I will call “social crimes — for example — prostitution or doctor-assisted suicide, the court is far more progressive,”

Source: Tough on crime

FENTANYL – Little known to the public, abuse of Fentanyl, a powerful opiod prescription painkiller 40 times stronger than heroin is accounting for a mounting death toll in Ontario. It has become the drug of choice since the de-listing of Oxycontin in 2012. The problem is dosing. It comes in time release patches that are typically cut up in sections to obtain the content however the amount of the drug in each section varies and is unknown, resulting in overdoses which shuts down breathing and death. Jail sentences for possession of Fentanyl are severe and equivalent to those imposed for heroin possession.

The small ‘Chemical Valley’ city has a Fentanyl death rate that is four times the provincial average.

Source: Sarnia, Ontario Attempting to Patch Up its Deadly Fentanyl Problem | VICE | Canada