uhuh.

any questions about my contemptuous term 'judgey judges'?

my encounter with said legal system was a behemouth sow JP on the bench cocking her bloated face and telling me 'its not rooooocket science'.

well no it isnt; rocket science is based on mathematics, physics, chemistry, logic and common sense.

I see very little of that nowadays in the courts at any level.

ya, well you should see it here in zimbobrae...the judges appointed by that commie peuk have left a legacy in Ontario that we will be feeling for decades. I had an uncle murdered 11 years ago by a scumbag who did only 9 years for his first murder...why did he murder my uncle???because my uncle did not have some info that he wanted, so he split his head open with an axe....the worst part of this, said murdering scumbag is a free man once again....smart money says he will kill once more, no doubt about it

Er, Kingstonlad, judges are appointed by the Federal government not the Provincial government. Bob Rae didn't have the power to make any appointments to the bench.

And everyone in the left of centre universe is getting their knickers in a twist about a CPC attempt to bring a little sanity to the judicial system?

ok, I stand corrected...appointed by turdeau, mulroney and cretin....all fine outstanding arseholes

Jim, are you certain that the Federal government appoints Provincial court judges? A quick search certainly suggests that Provincial governments do appoint judges.

People tsk tsk about all the people incarcerated in the USA, but the reason for that is that people got fed up with all the miscreants roaming the streets. This resulted in mandatory sentencing laws for some categories of crime and many more thugs in jail. Crime rates in most areas declined as a result of removing these vermin from our midst. Like any other human designed and operated system, there have been errors and excesses, but now most people (looking at the country overall) are less likely to be victims of crime.

p.s.- crime rates go up and down all the time for other reasons as well.

Who judges the judges? What liabilities do they have when their judgements directly impact in losses of property and life?

This blow up in Calgary was the result of putting a dangerous offender in a common bail hearing overseen by a JP. The JP really hasn't the understanding of criminal case procedure to make bail rulings on serious crinminal cases.

JPs are usually appointed from among the clerks who work in the courts doing filings...all you need to do is pass the procedures exam and you're in.

In this case a suspect with lengthy criminal history and a canada-wide warrant was apprehended ( obviously with a history of fleeing justice , thus the nation wide warrant)and let loose....a drastic error that should have has some recourse for the crown prosecutor and the arresting officer.

Frankly this is becomming too common. Gingras was released by a JP and several other sociopathic types were released by JPs that I recall.

If there is no recourse for prosecution and the police to appeal or forstall a poor judgement on release with or without bail, then that judge or JP should pay a price when the violent suspects with a history of fleeing justice they release flee and do damage...they should be directly liable.

Well if he goses out and commits more crimes then the JUSTICE OF THE PEACE should be held totaly liable for their neglegence and sent to prison to

As a physician, if I make an error I may be held liable for it. Maybe it is time we make judges, JP's, and parole board members liable for the damage people cause if they are released early. There could be certain circumstances where they have made obvious stupid decisions that they would be made responsible for. Currently there is a serious lack of acountability in the justice system.

I remember watching this on the news. What struck me as odd was that the officer was suspended "without" pay for 2 weeks. Normally when we hear of a police officer being suspended it is with pay and that money would be paid back if the investigation determined that the officer was in the wrong. I think that is how the process works. Kind of like innocent until proven guilty. Clearly in this case this officer was not given that right.
I have to hand it to tis guy, everything seems to be going against him and he stands his ground. We need mor like him. Good luck to you Const. Shaun Horne.

Well, this is but one example of the court's pro-criminal sympathies, but with McLachlin's rent-the-media to complain about our Prime Minister the other day, I'm getting rather fed up:

http://www.thiscanada.com/2007/02/21/the-biggest-mouth-that-roared/

It's a good example of why the Courts need Controls placed on them.

How this can be done is the big question. There is no doubt that it needs to be.
In terms of these controversial release orders from the bench, why can't the rules be changed to require consultation with police and prosecutors and others?

It seems all too common that justices rule on narrow legal interpretations and incomplete facts when it suits them....yet go out of their way to defend any activist position they hold in changing laws they do not agree with!

It should be mandatory that a ruling which changes a legal precedent or interpretation be defended by the judge at peril of being removed from the bench.

I believe that Judges should be replaced after a set time and that there should be a review of their performance in the job as well as prior to being granted their position.
The idea of permanence in such a role is absurd and the problems with the current situation evident!

Boy, do I ever sympatise with Constable Horne. I'm a teacher who deals with shifty little miscreants--criminals in training--all day long. They rule the roost. One needs almost court-proof evidence from reliable witnesses to even get a detention, let alone a suspension. (I agree with suspensions, if only to give the rest of us a well deserved break from the mayhem these seasoned operators perpetrate on the rest of us.)

The Charter probably wouldn't allow such a move, but society needs to have medium-to-bootcamp level "parallel"--read "reform"--schools for the barbarians who inhabit our public schools and treat them as their personal playgrounds to wreak havoc.

What a waste of my skills as a literacy specialist to have spend up to half my day as Nurse Ratchet with these altogether unmannerly, uncivilized "toddlers". I tell my class of 9-11 year olds that if I'd wanted to, I'd have become a nursery school teacher. As it is, I let them know--Officer Horne, I'm with you!--I'm not at all pleased with having to take on the role of one.

My kind of candour with my students is most certainly frowned on by the powers that be. But it works for me. And, under the kind of day to day, intolerable pressures that teachers and police officers face from the pampered and protected incorrigibles and criminals we deal with, it's a wonder that verbal frustration hasn't more often spilled into worse. And why hasn't it?

Ominously, while the kids and criminals, like too-tame bears, have no fear of (adult/law enforcing) humans, the adult humans who have to deal with these extreme troublemakers know that the system's not going to protect the responsible professionals, but will go to the wall to "protect the rights" of the n'er do well opportunists.

The inversion of any kind of justice here is an utter scandal.

I'm afraid that society's complete lack of balls in dealing with even the "baby cobras" under our noses is going to cause utter havoc as they "mature": actually, lots of people in Canada grow up physically, but, these days, don't mature at all. (Have a look at your boss!)

Bless Officer Horne: he's probably been expected to bear the unbearable. I hope he gets the support he deserves and that the powers that be realize that the "shoe of fairness and compassion" is on the wrong foot altogether.

I don't hold my breath.

Matts: "Maybe it is time we make judges, JP's, and parole board members liable for the damage"

-Unfortunately, while a great idea, it will be what we call "Catch-22".

Lookout: "I'm a teacher who deals with shifty little miscreants--criminals in training--all day long"

- Makes me glad I teach at the College level, at least one can brow beat students into acting more mature.

tomax, the likelihood of my guys ever making it to college is pretty slim. They feel entitled and are used to sitting back, waiting for someone else to do it for them. On a one-to-one basis, I'm fond of each one. But their life skills and loyalties are pretty truncated. In the "old days", this loser attitude would be firmly challenged by "the adults in charge". Not now. Poor kids. Poor us.

lookout, one can only hope things change as these are the future leaders of this country...

Yes, I know, tomax. I worry . . .

Unless, among a whole lot of other things, Canadian society gets some backbone and a way to "tame" the sharp edges of the Charter, I'm afraid I don't hold out much hope for any change I'd like to see. Honestly, from my perspective in the trenches of the Canadian elementary school, things look very bleak indeed.

As a physician, if I make an error I may be held liable for it. Maybe it is time we make judges, JP's, and parole board members liable for the damage people cause if they are released early. There could be certain circumstances where they have made obvious stupid decisions that they would be made responsible for. Currently there is a serious lack of acountability in the justice system.

What a friggin liar you are! Dr.s are legal murderer's.....you make a mistake and there are countless colleges and boards that protect your ass....you should be ashamed of yourself for portraying yourself in such a light....fraud!

It's a well know phrase that: dr's bury their mistakes.

That bit aside, there is a need in this country that the judges and parole boards take responsibilities for mis-carriges of real justice. David milgard's plight and others from the distant past have had way too much influence on recent court descisions. the rights of the victems are way too often dis-regarded in favour of the acused. With modern forensic science, the guilty should have to pay the price. stop making the victems weep in horror at the light sententaces given out by judges...or early parole by the parole board.

violent people should be put in jail in very unpleasant conditions, for as long as it takes to 'reform them.....with a quick and pre-determined consequence that it only gets worse if they re-offend. The onus has shifted from personal responsibility to a sense of sympathy for the convicts.....and the the victims of violent crime weep.

WTF is wrong with this country? Where is the justice?

I propose a huge, and i mean HUGE maximum security prison in Nunavut....no need for bars or locks.....the bif furry white 'guards' will take care of escapees.....and the sheer temperatures will keep everybody huddled inside.....

Crime and punishment should reflect the deed....
rapist, child molesters, and murderes should never see bail, parole or clemency. Do the crime, do the time. Wake up Canada!

I would have charged Horne with contempt of court, which is exactly what he demonsrated.

In 25 years he was never promoted. Why ... because of HIS attitude? One can assume that he was most likely placed into a dead end job in the CPS Arrest Processing Unit where he would be dealing only with CPS prisoners because no one supervising the NORMAL police officers within the Calgary Police Service wanted him to deal with the public, and I would suggest, in part, because of his recently demonstrated inability to control himself. Want to bet that an Acess To Freedom Of Information request might show a least some police and/or public complaints made against him in the past. The Calgary Police Commission should have released his record so that the public could judge if it was as bad as his prisioner's.

Constable Horne made good fodder for the Calgary Sun and other non thinking, short sighted persons but poor fodder for any serious discusion vis a vis the justice system as it occurs to me that HE may well be a part of the problem.