Urdedpal
New Member
When the families of four slain Mounties decided to fight for changes to the justice system, they needed a friend in high political places. They have one in Justice Minister Vic Toews.
The grieving families want mandatory minimum sentences for gun- and drug-related crimes. James Roszko had a history of gun offences and ran a marijuana grow-operation that was discovered the day before he gunned down RCMP constables Peter Schiemann, Anthony Gordon, Brock Myrol and Leo Johnston on March 3, 2005.
"Roszko got into this revolving door of the criminal justice system. He knew how to use it," said Rev. Don Schiemann. "If we had all these things in place, would March 3 have happened?"
Schiemann recognizes that "you can't hit the rewind button," but he can't help but think of the "what ifs."
In the mid-1990s, Roszko was sentenced to five years for sexual assault. His sentence was cut in half on appeal in 2000. If the five-year sentence had been upheld, and Roszko had served the full time, he would have been in prison the day he killed Schiemann's son Peter and three others.
An increase in minimum sentencing is a priority for the new Conservative federal government.
"We're committed to the enactment of mandatory minimum penalties for gun crimes and enacting minimum prison sentences for serious drug offences," Toews said in an interview shortly after he was sworn in as justice minister.
The families also want minimums for the sexual assault of a minor and serious assaults on police. Roszko's record included both.
Toews stopped short of those commitments, but didn't rule them out.
"We could very well have other discussions, but right now the focus is on gun and serious drug crimes."
Twenty-nine offences currently carry minimum sentences, 20 of them for firearms offences. Other mandatory minimums apply to crimes such as murder and child prostitution.
The Liberals instituted many of the firearms-related minimums in 1995, but none have been introduced since.
Minimums for gun crimes now range from one to four years, which Schiemann regards as "a joke." He wants criminals to receive five years if they commit a crime with a gun, 10 if they fire it and 15 if they shoot someone.
"We should have something that makes people sit up and notice before they put the bullets in their gun. You have to send a strong, strong message to the criminals."
Toews believes in mandatory minimum sentences.
"Certainly, they're a deterrent. It not only deters individuals, but also segregates ( in jail ) those individuals who nevertheless go ahead and use firearms."
But the deterrent value of mandatory minimums is debatable, say experts.
"What I find almost offensive is all these politicians saying we know mandatory minimums deter, and we don't know that," said Sanjeev Anand, a University of Alberta law professor. "We know the exact opposite, that it's not what you're going to be sentenced to that makes the difference, it's the chance of getting caught."
Criminals tend not to be forward-thinking enough to be deterred by harsher sentences, said Willie deWit, a Calgary criminal lawyer and past president of Alberta's criminal justice branch of the Canadian Bar Association.
"Most defence counsel say, and many studies show, that most people committing crimes, it's not something they thought about for a long period of time," he said. "An opportunity arises and these things happen."
For most crimes in Canada, sentencing is up to judges. Mandatory minimums limit judicial discretion.
"The danger is you can get a situation where a sentence that's a mandatory minimum becomes harder than the circumstances or the individual warrant in the situation," deWit said.
However, Schiemann said limiting discretion is a key benefit.
"I believe there is a bit of a crisis of credibility with our judicial system, as distinct from our justice system," he said. "More and more, the public is hearing through the news of some of the outrageous and almost scandalous decisions in terms of sentencing that judges will give for serious crimes."
The bar on sentencing is too easily lowered, Schiemann said. "Just because a judge is a judge, it doesn't always mean he's going to make the right decisions."
Courtrooms became a sore point for the families after an Alberta Justice review of Roszko's prosecution history showed only 14 convictions among 44 charges. The report said Roszko never met the criteria to be declared a dangerous offender.
"The list of his crimes just goes on and on. If they had made him a dangerous offender, my son would be alive today," a sickened Doreen Duffy, mother of
Const. Anthony Gordon, said at the time. "What were they waiting for?"
Toews said judges' interpretations have sometimes led to house arrest for serious crimes. Conditional sentences would no longer be an option for crimes with mandatory minimums.
"I see the issue of conditional sentences and mandatory minimum prison sentences very much interrelated," Toews said. "What we need to do is send a clear message to the courts that the sentences we want imposed for these kind of offences -- serious gun and drug-dealing offences -- require incarceration."
That would put more people in custody for longer periods. The Correctional Service of Canada says housing a prisoner costs an average of $85,000 a year.
"It will be tremendously costly," said Keith Spencer, a University of Alberta criminologist.
He said higher incarceration rates provide the illusion of safety, but it seems to be something Canadians want. "We're ready to spend money on jails. It's a more popular approach."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman
Pubdate: Tue, 28 Feb 2006
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2006 The Edmonton Journal
Contact: letters@thejournal.canwest.com
Website: canada.com
Details: MapInc (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)
The grieving families want mandatory minimum sentences for gun- and drug-related crimes. James Roszko had a history of gun offences and ran a marijuana grow-operation that was discovered the day before he gunned down RCMP constables Peter Schiemann, Anthony Gordon, Brock Myrol and Leo Johnston on March 3, 2005.
"Roszko got into this revolving door of the criminal justice system. He knew how to use it," said Rev. Don Schiemann. "If we had all these things in place, would March 3 have happened?"
Schiemann recognizes that "you can't hit the rewind button," but he can't help but think of the "what ifs."
In the mid-1990s, Roszko was sentenced to five years for sexual assault. His sentence was cut in half on appeal in 2000. If the five-year sentence had been upheld, and Roszko had served the full time, he would have been in prison the day he killed Schiemann's son Peter and three others.
An increase in minimum sentencing is a priority for the new Conservative federal government.
"We're committed to the enactment of mandatory minimum penalties for gun crimes and enacting minimum prison sentences for serious drug offences," Toews said in an interview shortly after he was sworn in as justice minister.
The families also want minimums for the sexual assault of a minor and serious assaults on police. Roszko's record included both.
Toews stopped short of those commitments, but didn't rule them out.
"We could very well have other discussions, but right now the focus is on gun and serious drug crimes."
Twenty-nine offences currently carry minimum sentences, 20 of them for firearms offences. Other mandatory minimums apply to crimes such as murder and child prostitution.
The Liberals instituted many of the firearms-related minimums in 1995, but none have been introduced since.
Minimums for gun crimes now range from one to four years, which Schiemann regards as "a joke." He wants criminals to receive five years if they commit a crime with a gun, 10 if they fire it and 15 if they shoot someone.
"We should have something that makes people sit up and notice before they put the bullets in their gun. You have to send a strong, strong message to the criminals."
Toews believes in mandatory minimum sentences.
"Certainly, they're a deterrent. It not only deters individuals, but also segregates ( in jail ) those individuals who nevertheless go ahead and use firearms."
But the deterrent value of mandatory minimums is debatable, say experts.
"What I find almost offensive is all these politicians saying we know mandatory minimums deter, and we don't know that," said Sanjeev Anand, a University of Alberta law professor. "We know the exact opposite, that it's not what you're going to be sentenced to that makes the difference, it's the chance of getting caught."
Criminals tend not to be forward-thinking enough to be deterred by harsher sentences, said Willie deWit, a Calgary criminal lawyer and past president of Alberta's criminal justice branch of the Canadian Bar Association.
"Most defence counsel say, and many studies show, that most people committing crimes, it's not something they thought about for a long period of time," he said. "An opportunity arises and these things happen."
For most crimes in Canada, sentencing is up to judges. Mandatory minimums limit judicial discretion.
"The danger is you can get a situation where a sentence that's a mandatory minimum becomes harder than the circumstances or the individual warrant in the situation," deWit said.
However, Schiemann said limiting discretion is a key benefit.
"I believe there is a bit of a crisis of credibility with our judicial system, as distinct from our justice system," he said. "More and more, the public is hearing through the news of some of the outrageous and almost scandalous decisions in terms of sentencing that judges will give for serious crimes."
The bar on sentencing is too easily lowered, Schiemann said. "Just because a judge is a judge, it doesn't always mean he's going to make the right decisions."
Courtrooms became a sore point for the families after an Alberta Justice review of Roszko's prosecution history showed only 14 convictions among 44 charges. The report said Roszko never met the criteria to be declared a dangerous offender.
"The list of his crimes just goes on and on. If they had made him a dangerous offender, my son would be alive today," a sickened Doreen Duffy, mother of
Const. Anthony Gordon, said at the time. "What were they waiting for?"
Toews said judges' interpretations have sometimes led to house arrest for serious crimes. Conditional sentences would no longer be an option for crimes with mandatory minimums.
"I see the issue of conditional sentences and mandatory minimum prison sentences very much interrelated," Toews said. "What we need to do is send a clear message to the courts that the sentences we want imposed for these kind of offences -- serious gun and drug-dealing offences -- require incarceration."
That would put more people in custody for longer periods. The Correctional Service of Canada says housing a prisoner costs an average of $85,000 a year.
"It will be tremendously costly," said Keith Spencer, a University of Alberta criminologist.
He said higher incarceration rates provide the illusion of safety, but it seems to be something Canadians want. "We're ready to spend money on jails. It's a more popular approach."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman
Pubdate: Tue, 28 Feb 2006
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2006 The Edmonton Journal
Contact: letters@thejournal.canwest.com
Website: canada.com
Details: MapInc (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)
