Latimer denied parole…
The Globe and Mail has an article on Robert Latimer, the man who in 1993 exposed his severely disabled daughter to toxic fumes in order to end her suffering. He has spent the last seven years in jail, and was just recently denied day parole. I remember studying this case in my undergrad bioethics course… a real ethical dillema (although clearly not a legal one – active euthanasia is illegal in Canada).
As many people point out, the parole board must have a big fat stick up their nether regions. Their job was to assess the risk of Latimer re-offending. While they have no problems letting gangsters and sex offenders back on the street, they deny this man parole when it is very clear he would be extremely unlikely to commit second-degree murder (or any similar offence) ever again. They seem to have punished Latimer not because he was a threat to re-offend, but because he was an offence to their view of the world. Had he lied to the board and faked remorse, he probably would have been let out — but because he stood by his principles and answered honestly, willing to pay the personal price, he is sent back to jail. (via Dawg’s Blog)
Along with the recent tazer death of Robert Dziekanski (which is not an isolated incident), I am beginning to lose my faith in the Canadian justice system.
Well, other than routinely flexing my rights, and being careful who I vote for, I’m out of ideas. Send them my way if you’ve got them (no, I don’t want to start a commune in the bush somewhere with you, go away!)
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