JUDGES SHOULD PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF THE PUBLIC

There is no doubt in my mind that B.C. Provincial Court Chief Judge
Hugh Stansfield is living in an ivory tower and is completely out of
touch with public desires.

He stated that it is an unfair approach to send drug addicts who
commit 15 to 20 crimes a day to jail. What is he thinking?

Perhaps if the judge started to give a little thought to the rights
of the general public to feel safe, he would start to understand that
the public is totally fed up with the revolving-door policy that
Stansfield advocates.

Federal Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day is exactly right in
blasting the B.C. courts, which hand out sentences much lighter than
courts in the rest of Canada.

The public's rights must supersede the rights of the criminals, and
the sooner that Stansfield understands this, the better.

There is no doubt that B.C. needs a new chief judge -- one who is
willing to protect the public before the drug addicts.

Derek Coughtrey, Surrey