Do you ever get the feeling that our 'justice' system has gone completely mad and no longer delivers judgments that bear any resemblance to what most of us would consider just or appropriate results?
If you answered 'yes', you might be thinking that I am about to deliver a polemic on the need to 'get tough' on criminals or a strong statement of support for our Federal governments proposed anti-crime bill. You would be wrong.
Provincial Court Judge T.G. Schollie regularly presides over Stettler's weekly parade of accused criminals. Based on my first-hand observations of him in action and on keeping track of his sentencing efforts in the regular roundup published in the Stettler Independent, I get the feeling that Judge Schollie would likely be called a 'hanging judge' by many who've had to stand in front of him. Impaired drivers, kids charged with minor drug offences, petty thieves, traffic offenders and small-time abusers of the social welfare system are all regularly punished to the full, allowable extent of the law. It would be fair to say that Judge Schollie reserves a special disgust for impaired drivers, often taking extra time to berate and lecture those charged with impaired driving about their 'drinking problems' and the 'harm they cause', even if the offence involves no accident or dangerous conduct. Probation conditions that cost the public purse countless dollars are also regularly applied by the good judge, even in cases of a first offence.
Imagine my shock when I read about the good Judge's latest foray into sentencing. Consider this story from today's Stettler Independent:
MAN FINED $400 FOR KILLING 2 CATS
http://www.albertalocalnews.com/stettlerindependent/news/41437014.htmlA local man was fined a few hundred dollars for killing two of his cats although the crown prosecutor recommended a maximum prison sentence of 18 months.
Donald William Hewlett was fined a total of $400 in Stettler Provincial Court on March 12 for killing two cats on Jan. 18 this year.
Frustrated with cats regularly urinating in the house, he hung one of the cats in the truck window by the neck.”
“I don’t approve of strangling cats and wringing a cat’s neck is horrible,” said Judge T. G. Schollie.
Hewlett admitted to making a bad choice by drinking alcohol and killing the cats.
“He got drunk and lost it,” said Crown Prosecutor Murray McPherson.
I'm certainly glad the Judge 'doesn't approve' of strangling cats, although I'm wondering why it would be necessary for him to make that clear. Shouldn't that be obvious, or is there a chance that we are appointing Judges somewhere in this province that would actually hold an opinion that such a disgusting act of animal abuse would be 'okay'?
Maybe Judge Schollie has never heard of Jeffrey Dahmer, I don't know. Perhaps he isn't aware of the myriad of psychological research that draws a clear connection between such animal abuse and far more heinous violent crimes? Maybe he believes animals have no souls and therefore this crime is minor? I won't venture to guess on any of these questions.
What I will say, however, is this: the message that Judge Schollie sends with this sentence is that true 'violent' crime is about as low on his list of priorities as it can get. A speeding ticket will cost you more than murdering your pets in his court. A quick perusal of the other sentences rendered on Judge Schollie's docket that day tell the full story and it's not a pretty one.
Judges like Schollie are the problem in our justice system and sentences like this lead to perpetrators laughing at the law and ordinary, law-abiding citizens losing all faith in the system. Disproportionate sentencing and selective moral outrage rule the day in our courts and until this changes no one will have respect for the law or the legal system.
Mark my words. The Harper government's crime bill -- with it's misguided extension of mandatory sentencing for minor drug crimes and the like will only make this dysfunctional system worse.
