FUMBLING CRIMINAL REFORM

From the Left

Most of us have no reasonable command of the inner workings of the
justice system and it is appalling that the Conservatives knowingly
capitalized on our collective ignorance.

This government is more commited to locking up a 25-year-old smoking a
crack pipe then they are to providing adequate and sustainable
treatment options. Embarassing.

The wizardry of Conservative criminal justice reform has placed
bestiality beside sexual assault with a weapon and mail theft
alongside manslaughter.

The Tories have vowed to do away with conditional sentences.

I am certain their "get tough on crime" attitude netted considerable
support in bolstering their minority but such fundamentalist ambitions
are unsettling and very na--ve.

This upheaval of yesterday's criminal justice system covers a wide
range of offences, some, such as mail theft, are clearly non-violent
in nature. This regression has been met by little fanfare in the legal
community.

A conditional sentence is a sentence of less than two years that can
be served in the community if several criteria are met, one of which
is assurance by the judge that public safety will not be threatened.

Law professors are quick to point out that such archaic legislation
will put many people in jail that will not benefit from being there.

After all, it is not the length of time behind bars that will cure our
society of its woes, it is what happens behind bars that will make the
difference when on the outside.

Also pending is mandatory minimum sentences for gun, drug and sex
crimes.

In the arena of enticing appeal and voter vanity such a change has
been welcomed.

Sadly, aside from netting votes, this Tory position has little
substance.

In Stockwell Day's Public Safety Ministry a study was conducted in
2002 that found mandatory minimums did not deter repeat offenders.

The United States Justice Department has conducted numerous studies
that produced the same result.

Justice Minister Vic Toes wants to strip judges of their right to
judge.

Not every crime or criminal is the same and in a liberal justice
system a jurist is tasked to assess every situation on its unique
circumstances and contributing factors.

This set of criminal justice reforms erode the value of careful
consideration by those that we have entrusted to judge.

Our perception of what was and what will be, once Harper has his way,
will be skewed by successful fear-mongering gimmicks as seen by the
likes of Randy White.

The resurrection of faith in our justice system will not come by
politicians playing judge.

The editorial in the Edmonton Sun on May 8 pointed out that the
motivation for these crime reforms came from misguided and benevolent
judges all too often letting gun-wielding rapists walk free.

Am I the only one that has at least a wee bit of faith in the
"system?"

Anyhow, I feel safer now knowing that the individual that molested my
cow and stole my mail is headed to the brink for a goon's age
alongside Paul Bernardo.

Jeffrey Hansen-Carlson is a resident of Abbotsford and a political
activist completing his Masters in Business Administration.