Our justice system has been compromised once again by the practice of “judge shopping.”
What will they allow next – weekend jail sentences? You’re right, they already allow that, so let’s think of something else. A free massage with a lemon spritzer to ease courtroom stress?
The latest is a fraud artist (who plied his trade in Oliver and Osoyoos last year) being granted a delay in sentencing. The reason: To wait for the return of a semi-retired judge (Gail Sinclair) who is perceived as being more lenient than others.
Although Judge Greg Koturbash questioned this tactic, he granted the adjournment.
According to the defence, being able to choose a certain judge for sentencing is an incentive for lawbreakers to enter plea bargains, which saves the court time and money.
It does save money, but plea bargaining benefits the criminal because the more serious charge is dropped.
Judge shopping should not be permitted because there is enough backlog in our courts, and criminals do not deserve any more leniency than they already get.
Moving on to another court case, Judge Sinclair recently imposed the minimum sentence on an Osoyoos man who admitted having sex with a 14-year-old girl.
The sentence was 90 days in jail to be served on weekends. Are you as dumbstruck as we are?
The judge said no good would come to society by imposing a stiffer sentence, noting the circumstances were “situational” and there is no evidence the accused is a pedophile.
The judge continued by referring to the man as an otherwise law-abiding citizen. But the Crown thought different and wanted a sentence of up to nine months.
Say goodbye to deterrence.
In yet another case, the same judge sentenced a young woman to 185 days in jail for drug charges and breaches of court orders.
Why would you penalize a woman more for drugs than a grown man who took advantage of a young girl? It doesn’t make sense.
We need to bring back the deterrence in our “injustice” system and sentences that fit the crime.
Delaying sentencing because of a criminal’s special preference is ludicrous and only adds to the mockery of our court system.
Lyonel Doherty, editor
