February 21, 2009
Judges are above the law Despite new federal law, gangsters still get bail
When politicians from every level of government, along with police chiefs, are openly calling the courts ‘a broken system,’ and a ‘revolving door,’ it is time for judges to go through a review process.
But here’s where the problem lies.
Judges, as Langley MP Mark Warawa and former judge Wally Oppal pointed out, are accountable to no one — they are separate from other branches of government and apparently above the laws they are supposed to rule on.
B.C. judges have sat on the Tackling Violent Crime Act for more than six months, and are not using any of its new powers regarding stricter bail and sentencing.
Judge absolution was created ages ago, with the idea that their decisions were safe from influence.
But what has that done? It has created a judicial royalty so isolated from the real world it can no longer act in a balanced, rational manner. Judges are foregoing public safety for the rights of murdering thugs.
It’s so badly eroded that gang members facing multiple gun charges walk free on bail after breaching previous bail conditions to not carry guns.
There are as many victims of the criminal justice system as there are of victims of crime in this country.
The problem starts with the superior attitude of B.C. Provincial Court Chief Judge Hugh Stansfield, who on several occasions has offered his apologies to us small-minded folk, especially members of the media, because we cannot possibly understand the complexities of the courts.
Last week he said the onus is on Crown to show why an accused shouldn’t be given bail, not the other way around.
This is in direct contravention to the new crime bill put into law by Parliament last year, which directly states that the onus is on the defense, not the Crown, to prove why the accused should be allowed bail if facing weapon charges.
So, Mr. Stansfield, do you not know your job? Or are you defying the law of this country because you sit so high on your pedestal that you know best?
We do not need more police if we do not have a judicial system willing to support their efforts.
The Bacon brothers were in court two weeks ago, and could have had their bail revoked right there and then.
But no. A judge decided it was best for more people to die while these two thugs receive their due process.
We are all screaming collectively from the top of our lungs that the justice system is enabling criminals to thrive, while the rest of us change our lives to accommodate them.
There cannot be change until judges and Crown counsel become more aware of the job they are paid to do.
The B.C. government had better put in stronger provisions to allow Crown to start appealing more poor decisions by judges. That’s where real change can happen. Until then, the bullets will continue to fly.
