In this case a MMS precluded the Judge from considering the facts of the case, the accused’s background, the suitability of penitentiary conditions and the fact the accused had already served 18 months of house arrest. “Mandatory minimum sentences actually prohibit judges from doing the job they are tasked with, Clark said. Empirically, mandatory sentencing costs the taxpayer massively, “with no corresponding gain in public safety. Mandatory minimum sentences give an unfair advantage to the Crown by making it more likely for the accused to plead guilty to a lesser offence for fear of risking a long prison sentence,”

Source: Manitoba judge defying mandatory minimum sentence keeps debate raging

THE WOLVES ARE IN THE HENHOUSE!! This may be exactly what the LSUC needs.

Galati, a thorn in Ottawa’s side, and Groia, recently convicted of incivility by the Law Society, will be part of the group setting policy for Ontario’s lawyers.

Source: Legal scrappers Rocco Galati and Joseph Groia elected Law Society benchers | Toronto Star

How long do we have to continue to put up with this? “The drug war gives everybody permission to do anything. It gives cops permission to stop anybody, to go in anyone’s pockets, to manufacture any lie when they get to district court. Probable cause was destroyed by the drug war.” Police “carding” in Toronto is one such result.

Source: Want to fix Baltimore? ‘End the drug war,’ says David Simon – The Washington Post

Canada’s auditor general says inmates are being dumped back into communities, rather than gradually reintegrated into society to ensure they don’t violently re-offend

We’ve been saying it all along and now it’s confirmed by facts. “In a report released Tuesday likely to raise political questions about the Conservative government’s law and order agenda, Auditor General Michael Ferguson identified significant shortcomings in the federal prison system and parole policies that he says threaten to undermine community safety and security.”

Source: Hundreds of inmates who spend more time in jail and less time on parole are more likely to reoffend: AG | National Post

Contrary to rumour and reputation, this is an aggressively entrepreneurial city. A hub of commerce and industry, free of job-killing red tape and bureaucratic meddling. Well, not really. But Vancouver is home to at least one phenomenally successful, unfettered growth industry: retail cannabis.

Like a tidal wave that starts slowly but builds to an irresistible force all while Harper keeps his ideological tough-on-crime head buried in denial in the sand.

Source: Vancouver’s proposed pot rules miss the obvious

I had an interesting conversation with a claims adjuster for a major insurance company yesterday, which affirmed why I have dash cams in my cars. Besides recording accidents and incidents it will also save you from common scams: 1. Someone suddenly braking at a green light to make you rear-end them. 2. Waving you on at an intersection and then suddenly accelerating into it to make you hit them on the side. 3. Stopped at a red light, the car ahead reversing into the front of your car. 4. Pedestrian jumping onto your windshield ‘Better Call Saul’ style. You may never need it but if you do it’ll more than pay for itself the first time. Police have them.  So should you.

Source: Mio MiVue 388 (32GB) HD DVR car truck video camera recorder drive cam high quality dash cam GPS logger: Amazon.ca: Camera & Photo

But there are still lingering questions about the health effects of the drug — which are stalling efforts to shape public policy.

IT’S TIME TO PUT REEFER MADNESS TO BED – “In 2012, government researchers found that people who smoked pot daily for seven years didn’t damage their lungs in a manner similar to that of tobacco smokers. A 2013 study conducted by Donald Tashkin, a professor at the University of California Los Angeles who has led long-term studies on the effects of tobacco inhalation, also confirmed that marijuana use alone didn’t cause significant abnormalities to the lungs. Putting marijuana in your lungs is not the healthiest decision you can make but it’s stark compared to the damage done by tobacco.”

Source: The Impact Of Smoking Marijuana Regularly On Your Lungs, According To Science | ThinkProgress

Pseudoscience in the Witness Box

“The Washington Post published a story so horrifying this weekend that it would stop your breath. The FBI’s three-decade use of microscopic hair analysis to incriminate defendants was a complete disaster. The Post reported that flawed forensic hair matches might have led to possibly hundreds of wrongful convictions for rape, murder, and other violent crimes, dating back at least to the 1970s.”Source: FBI’s flawed forensics expert testimony: Hair analysis, bite marks, fingerprints, arson.

“The Supreme Court did not side with the criminals; rather, it simply held that jail sentences in Canada must not be grossly disproportionate to the severity of the offence. The financial costs, however, pale in comparison to the toll suffered by our democracy when people receive disproportionate jail sentences because the government chose to advance a political agenda rather than heed the objective evidence weighing against its position.”

Nathan Gorham: The court did not ‘side with the criminals’ on mandatory minimums for gun crimes | National Post.

 If you’re stopped by police and you blow a warn (over .05 blood alcohol concentration) or fail (over .08 BAC) on an approved screening device the police officer will suspend your driver’s license for 3 or 90 days respectively – whether you’re guilty of an offence or not and without a trial to determine it. It’s called an administrative license suspension. Is this valid regulation of the highways or criminal punishment? In other words, is it constitutional? Finally, our highest court will decide, next month.

Toronto litigators to argue Supreme Court of Canada breathalyzer law case – Litigation Update | Stikeman Elliott LLP.