Dec 22, 2014

 Blogger Marion Lane, retired judge (BC)

Judicial Appointments Delayed, Justice Denied 

The blog presents a short review of the recent history of appointments to the SCC and then suggests “Respect for process, transparency and accountability have gone the way of the dodo. Secrecy is again the name of the game…A government that valued justice and respected the courts would want a Bench working to capacity with as little burn-out as possible.  That’s not happening, and it hasn’t for some time.”   http://effervescentbubble.ca/2014/11/28/judicial-appointments-delayed-justice-denied    Related article:  iPolitics.com – Ian MacLeod, Ottawa Citizen   The honeymoon’s over: Côté’s learning curve at Supreme Court will be steep and swift   http://www.canada.com/News/canada/honeymoon+over+C%C3%B4t%C3%A9+learning+curve+Supreme+Court+will+steep+swift/10667656/story.html

 iPolitics – Steve Sullivan

Death by isolation   

Sullivan was the first ombudsman for victims of crime and presently serves as the CEO of Ottawa Victims of Crime.   He suggests that Ashley Smith was in fact a victim of crime as well but not one in whom either the federal government or Corrections Canada have any interest, even though a coroner’s jury declared her death a homicide.  Says Sullivan:  “How does it help victims of crime to keep prisoners in solitary indefinitely, when we know how the practice warps the mind and soul? And what kind of threat are they going to pose to society, and themselves, once they’re released?”   http://www.ipolitics.ca/2014/12/18/death-by-isolation

 Rick Howe Show (Radio News 957, Halifax)  –

Dalhousie response to the 13 dental students

The Dalhousie 13 are prompting all kinds of responses from the various communities.  Some want immediate expulsion from both the university and the profession.  About 20,000 have already signed a petition supporting the expulsion.  Here, on the Rick Howe Radio Show in Halifax, Jennifer Llewellyn, professor of law at Dal, describes the advantages of the RJ process chosen to help repair the harm done.   Dalhousie is an international leader in the use of RJ and Llewellyn one of the most articulate spokespersons.    http://www.news957.com/2014/12/19/the-rick-howe-show-9-am-274    Related article: Huffington Post – Michael Karanicolas     Misconceptions About Restorative Justice    http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/michael-karanicolas/dalhousie-restorative-justice_b_6357082.html    Related article: Globe and Mail – Jane Taber    Dalhousie measures fallout from misogynistic Facebook comments http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/dalhousie-measures-fallout-from-misogynistic-facebook-comments/article22173316   Related article: CTV News – Matthew Coutts    Dalhousie University’s choice of punishment for Facebook misogyny met with outrage    https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/dalhousie-universitys-choice-of-punishment-for-213811667.html

 Globe and Mail – Associated Press (US)

Gunman’s criminal past in spotlight after shooting of NYPD officers raises tensions   

This week-end saw a new and dangerous element added to the racial tensions in the US around white police shooting unarmed black men:  two N.Y. City police officers – one Asian and one Hispanic, were “assassinated” by a man with an extensive background in crime and suspected mental illness.  The killings happened just before a warning from Baltimore police that the killer, wanted on other charges and threatening police officers, was in the N.Y. area.  The gunman alerted other people on the street before the shooting saying “Watch what I am going to do,” and then killed himself after the execution. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/gunmans-criminal-past-in-spotlight-after-shooting-of-nypd-officers-raises-tensions/article22175220    Related article: CBC News – Associated Press    Ismaaiyl Brinsley, NYC police shooter, had troubled past, criminal record http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ismaaiyl-brinsley-nyc-police-shooter-had-troubled-past-criminal-record-1.2880650

 Globe and Mail – Josh Wingrove

Several questions unanswered two months after Centre Block shooting 

Some two months after the shooting incident on Parliament Hill, there appears to be some tensions between police bodies in the on-going investigations and no results yet from autopsies.  Besides the detail of the shooting of Michael Zehaf-Bibreau, there is secrecy in the probing of the event and no indication of what will finally be released for the public.   http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/several-questions-unanswered-two-months-after-centre-block-shooting/article22174953    Related article:  Globe and Mail  –  Daniel Leblanc    National security demands leave other RCMP areas understaffed      http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/national-security-demands-leave-other-rcmp-areas-understaffed/article22174107