November 6, 2024
Should we elect our judges?
Criminal defense lawyer Edward Prutschi of CrimLawCanada.com says, “Elected judges who owe favours to their voters, volunteers and campaign donors are in an immediate and dangerous conflict of interest. Having said that, appointed judges cannot forget their responsibility to the communities they serve while simultaneously upholding the rule of law. It’s a tough scale to balance but we pay judges very well to make tough decisions every day.”
Criminal defense lawyer Edward Prutschi of CrimLawCanada.com says, “Elected judges who owe favours to their voters, volunteers and campaign donors are in an immediate and dangerous conflict of interest. Having said that, appointed judges cannot forget their responsibility to the communities they serve while simultaneously upholding the rule of law. It’s a tough scale to balance but we pay judges very well to make tough decisions every day.”

Is it time we consider electing judges? They are accountable to no one and acting that way.

Recently Justice Paul Currie decided a man shooting at the police wasn’t trying to kill the police officers.

Currie acquitted Peter Aiken, 27, who fired an illegal handgun five times at two Peel Regional Police officers in 2016 of two counts of attempted murder. Instead, he convicted him of weapons charges, including intentionally discharging a firearm.

Aiken had a criminal history and court conditions, but Currie said, “On all the evidence before me, I find I am left in a reasonable doubt about whether Mr. Aiken, in all the circumstances of this case, had that requisite intention to kill.”

When firing five shots at anyone, what is the intention?

Meanwhile, the Ottawa Citizen reports that Ontario Superior Court Justice Marc Labrosse decided that a mandatory minimum of five years for trying to forcibly pimp out two girls, aged 14 and 15, was cruel and unusual punishment.

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See Also:

(1) Judge strikes a blow to common sense letting pimps walk free

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