NOT A BLACK AND WHITE WORLD

On television or in the movies, the climax usually comes when a judge
or jury pronounces an accused criminal guilty or innocent.

As a reporter, though, one quickly learns that most of the drama comes
during the sentencing hearing, after that supposed climax.

There's a couple reasons for this. First, of course, is the fact that
in the vast majority of cases, the accused pleads guilty to a
selection of charges. When cases do go to trial, there is usually
little dispute of the core facts, e.g. whether A stabbed B. Instead,
cases usually revolve around matters of intent, constitutional rights,
and what can be proven and what is just inferred.

Sentencing hearings are often more dramatic because that is when one
hears the story behind the crime. One hears why something happened and
why someone eventually became a criminal. You also hear what has
happened since the crime took place.

They are often gut-wrenching, with both victims and the victimizers
addressing the court.

I challenge anyone who has a strong opinion on the justice system, who
advocates for stronger or lighter punishments for criminals, to
observe a few hearings. The world is not black and white and it's
impossible to sit in on a half-dozen sentencings and think otherwise.

Take drugs and alcohol. I can count on one hand, the number of
criminal cases I have covered that did not include intoxicants at its
root.

The consumption of alcohol, for instance, has been cited in pedophilia
cases, in domestic abuse cases, and in murder cases.

Marijuana? Its production and movement has frequently led to violence,
although its consumption is rarely cited as a direct cause for crime.
(But some hard drug users do cite pot as their first experience with
narcotics).

If it does lead some to try harder drugs, then it's a significant
black mark against pot because the effect of crystal meth, cocaine and
heroin so frequently destroys lives. The effect of the drugs is
responsible for some violence, but the desire to obtain more drugs is
behind the bulk of the crime in Chilliwack.

In these sentencing hearings, as drug and alcohol use is cited over
and over again, it's also impossible to ignore the childhood
conditions that leads to such use. It's not excusing crime to come to
the realization that criminals aren't born, they're made.

First, typically, comes childhood trauma; then early childhood alcohol
and pot use (often by or before the age of 13); then juvenile
delinquency and hard drug use; and finally, they show up in adult court.

Go to court often enough and it's impossible not to come to the
conclusion that our tax money would be better spent rooting out those
childhood problems-whether by providing support to the parents of
at-risk children or giving kids ways to escape parent-caused
trauma-than building new prisons to house society's failures.

Alas, it's easier (and more popular) to spend millions on leaky
band-aids than it is to treat the underlying conditions.

Particularly when that condition is often a friend, a father, or a
neighbour.