JUDGE HOPES FOR FLOWER POWER

Gives Bouquet to Teen As Award for Progress

Young Thief Had Been Spared Jail

A Manitoba judge shocked courtroom observers when she pulled out a
bouquet of flowers and gave it to a convicted teen robber as a reward
for making progress in her life after being spared a jail sentence.

"Let's give her a round of applause," provincial court Judge Marva
Smith said last Friday as she handed the multi-coloured chrysanthemums
to the surprised 17-year-old young offender.

Several lawyers and sheriff's officers then honoured the judge's
unusual request and began clapping.

A clearly emotional Smith told court she wanted to recognize the girl
for making great strides in her rehabilitation in the four months
since she pleaded guilty to a robbery and several breaches of court
orders.

Smith sentenced the teen in March to a period of probation that
included conditions to seek drug and alcohol treatment and come back
to court in late June for a progress report.

"Sometimes there aren't very many happy moments in this job," Smith
said last week. "I've been sitting here at the youth centre for a
couple weeks and I've been hearing a lot of stories about kids who
aren't doing very well. I was so pleased to hear about all the good
work you've been doing. Your progress report brought a smile to my
face. It just made my day."

Several lawyers and legal experts told the Free Press yesterday
they've never seen or heard of anything quite like it.

Smith's gift-giving will likely outrage some members of the public who
already believe judges have been symbolically handing out presents in
the form of slaps on the wrist, said University of Manitoba law
professor David Deutscher.

"If you accept the vocal public's perception that we need to be harder
on youth crime, then, of course, this is a bad thing," he said yesterday.

"But if this will be effective and encourage her to keep taking the
steps to eliminate her substance abuse problems and become a
productive member of society, then so what? What's the worst thing
that's going to happen? We've tried all sorts of other methods that
don't seem to be working."

The Youth Criminal Justice Act is facing major re-construction based
on the public and political perception that it is far too lenient on
young offenders.

Federal Justice Minister Vic Toews promised a major overhaul in the
wake of last month's Supreme Court of Canada decision to uphold a
one-day jail sentence given to a Winnipeg teen who beat a man to death
with an eight-ball wrapped in a sock. The country's highest court
ruled rehabilitation must be the primary goal of sentencing judges and
trump other issues such as punishment and deterrence.

The youth who got the flowers -- she can't be named -- has stayed
clean of drugs and alcohol and is now making plans to return to
school, according to her probation officer's report. Smith, a former
defence lawyer who also worked for the province's constitutional law
branch before being appointed to the bench in 1999, spent several
minutes praising the girl and offering encouragement to continue on
the right path.

"I remember when I sentenced you on what was a very serious matter and
you told me you wanted to straighten out, you wanted to stop the
drugs. I remember the way you said it. It came from the heart," she
said. "You had a pretty serious problem with addiction and you seem to
have beaten it. You're going to have to stay on that path, take it one
day at a time. But if you've beaten the addiction problem, you can
solve any problems in your life. Just take your time."

Smith asked the teen to come back to court in another six months for
an update.

Deutscher suggested Smith may now be in a difficult position to ever
deal with the youth should she find herself in trouble with the law
again.

"You want to avoid an appearance of bias," he said.

Smith and Chief provincial court Judge Ray Wyant both declined to
comment on the case yesterday, citing a policy of not speaking about
specific cases.