Canadian Politics Today

The idea that Canadian courts will set Pickton or Bernardo free is sheer nonsense.

The premise of this thread seems to be inspired by watching Dirty Harry movies.  The suggestion that we need our police to do more vigilante activity is silly.

 -k

I would say the premise of the thread is more an expression of frustration at the lack of justice meted out to people like Bernardo and Picton. Thought I'm not sure what society COULD met out justice to these guys without resorting to barbarity.

I guess we know what we'll B_C'ing soon.

Chapter11lawyer is NOT BC. Try to tone down your attitude.

Are you okay with a cop murdering your child on the street because she mistakenly thought your child was a murderer?

And you know this how?

His other username is on his avatar.

But I don't really give a **** who he is.

That too. 

Ahhh....

"Known as JBG or JBGUSA "

I couldn't get JBG or JBGUSA to work. I may still try and then will post in each of my threads. And the truth is I am a very serious lawyer and poster. My views tend more to the pragmatic though. I am in no way an idealist.

Robert Pickton wasn't arrested in a high speed chase or a kung fu fight or any other Hollywood style nonsense. The police conducted a long and thorough investigation, they arrived at his home with a warrant, and they arrested him.  There was little excuse for the police to provide any "street justice".  I'm sure that all of the officers involved would have loved to have taught Pickton a "lesson", but it was much too big an investigation, and much too important a case, for the police to risk blowing it by doing anything stupid.

There's little doubt that the appetite for "street justice" is still alive and well among some police, however.   One can certainly look to the city of Baltimore as an example.  The police department there has spent tens of millions of taxpayer dollars settling lawsuits for injuring citizens during "rough rides".  The cops, believing that the justice system will fail to provide any real punishment for lawbreakers, throw the suspects into the back of a paddy wagon and drive in a manner as to bang their bound prisoners around the back of the police van on a scenic tour around Baltimore until they eventually arrive at the station.

This was all fun and games, until Freddie Gray died from injuries he received in the back of a police paddy wagon.  He went into the van in one piece, he exited the van a comatose quadriplegic, and died of his injuries a few days later. The police involved were completely mystified as to how Gray could have been injured. "We dint do nuffin."

Was Gray a deadbeat? Apparently so. A ne'er-do-well? Sure. A petty criminal? Sounds like.  Did he deserve to be killed?

Despite costing Baltimore taxpayers another $6.4 million dollars in a settlement to the victim's family, the Freddie Gray incident resulted in no convictions, as there just wasn't enough proof that officer Caesar Goodson intentionally drove the van recklessly.  Everybody with even a few brain cells knows what happened, but "everybody knows" isn't good enough to stand up in a court of law. 

So, ironically, the bitter cops who were mad that the system never really punishes the suspects were saved by the system that never really punishes the suspects.

If somebody were to hypothetically show up at officer Goodson's home with a baseball bat and beat his head in until he was a comatose quadriplegic... would that be supported by those who want "real justice"?

 -k

Again, people are focussing too much on symbolic issues than facts.  Murderers get off, but so do drunk drivers and the system right now is so mismanaged that these people are getting off because the process is clogging the system and cases can't be executed properly.

This should be front page news all the time, IMO.