REFORM THE JUDICIARY

Editor, The Record:

"People are gullible and sometimes desperate," or so went the quote,
especially if they believe anything coming out of the mouths of
politicians from any party telling us they'll get tough on gangs.

And people would have to be very gullible not to discount the
premier's announcement of hiring more people to fight the gangs when
Wally Oppal announced the following day that 100 people will be cut
from his office over the next three years. We don't need mixed signals
from our politicians at this critical time about the explosion of gang
violence.

But there's plenty of blame to go around as to why things have gotten
so out of hand. Gutless politicians who are afraid to work for us, and
the lawyers defending gang members with technicalities are certainly
high on my list of those to blame.

But for me it's the judges and the spin machine surrounding their
lame-brained decisions that rank even higher in the blame game
everyone seems to be playing right now. Mr. Oppal producing that white
wash report saying our judges are not soft on crime only got the scorn
that it deserved.

The drug trade pays for the lifestyle of the gangs and that is a
problem. Our judges would rather release than convict even when the
evidence is staring them in the face. Just the other day, another grow
operator had his conviction overturned on appeal because the judges -
drowning from drinking their own bathwater - said that to allow the
original judgment to stand would bring the administration of justice
into disrepute in the minds of right-minded citizens. I've heard that
phrase so often it turns my stomach.

When will the judges ever get it through their heads that it is
themselves who have brought their profession into such disrepute. Our
out-of-touch judges tell us we're uninformed and don't understand the
lofty ideals under which they dispense justice in name only. What they
really champion is not justice for you and me, but the exaggerated
rights of the criminals over the rights ordinary citizens to live in
safe neighbourhoods.

To reform the judiciary and bring common sense back into our system of
justice by broadening the rules of evidence and lessening the burden
of proof - especially where weapons are concerned - we have to decide
as a society if we're willing to accept some specific infringements on
our civil liberties as objectionable as that thought is.

But this is a war we're in and sacrifices have to be made now, not
tomorrow, to curtail the insanity happening in our courts while trying
our best to limit collateral damage on our citizens and their
legitimate rights and freedoms. The price we'll have to pay to win
this war against the gangs and the entire damnable drug industry will
pale in comparison to the loss of our freedoms to the scumbags if we
chicken out (as our politicians will inevitably do).

Robert T. Rock

Mission