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- Canada (11)
- United States (2)
- Abused women--Legal status, laws, etc. (1)
- Blacks--Social conditions (1)
- Canada. Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1)
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- Discrimination in criminal justice administration (1)
- Drug abuse and crime (1)
- Firearms--Law and legislation (1)
- Indigenous peoples--Legal status, laws, etc. (1)
- Informers (1)
- Judicial error (1)
- Mandatory sentences--Political aspects (1)
- People with disabilities--Crimes against (1)
- People with disabilities--Legal status, laws, etc. (1)
- Racism (1)
- Self-defense (Law) (1)
- United States. Constitution. 8th Amendment (1)
- Violent crimes--Prevention (1)
- Women with disabilities--Legal status, laws, etc. (1)
Articles 1 - 12 of 12
Full-Text Articles in Law
Mandatory Minimum Sentences And Women With Disabilities, Fiona Sampson
Mandatory Minimum Sentences And Women With Disabilities, Fiona Sampson
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This article examines the issue of mandatory minimum sentencing from the unique perspective of women with disabilities. Concerns about the discriminatory application of mandatory minimum sentences are outlined and analyzed from a gendered disability perspective, as are concerns about the devaluation of the lives of persons with disabilities through the support of reduced sentences for those convicted of murdering persons with disabilities. This examination makes it clear that the different concerns of women with disabilities are difficult to reconcile, as they mandate contradictory positions with respect to the possible abolition of the sentencing practice. The challenges inherent in the development …
Mandatory Minimum Sentences Of Imprisonment: Exploring The Consequences For The Sentencing Process, Julian V. Roberts
Mandatory Minimum Sentences Of Imprisonment: Exploring The Consequences For The Sentencing Process, Julian V. Roberts
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
In this article, the author discusses the nature and consequences of the mandatory sentences of imprisonment created by Bill C-63 in 1995. These mandatory sentences constitute the most comprehensive collection of mandatory minima in Canadian history, and will affect significant numbers of offenders. Unlike most mandatory minima created in other jurisdictions such as Australia, England, and Wales, the legislation that created the firearms offence minima offer no provision to be invoked in exceptional cases. In this article, the author addresses the effect that these new statutory minima am likely to have on sentencing patterns It is argued that they should …
The Political Attractiveness Of Mandatory Minimum Sentences, Anthony N. Doob, Carla Cesaroni
The Political Attractiveness Of Mandatory Minimum Sentences, Anthony N. Doob, Carla Cesaroni
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This article addresses the question of why Canada still has mandatory minimum sentences despite inquiries by a number of commissions that suggest abolition. It suggests that politicians and judges alike not only promote mandatory minimum policies, but also speak about them in much the same way - as a way of fighting crime. Though the evidence is clear that mandatory minimum sentences are not an effective crime-control strategy, and actually disrupt the sensible operation of the justice system, it is apparent that the deterrence message they deliver is still functional for politicians and is rarely challenged by judges.
Disarming Canadians, And Arming Them With Tolerance: Banning Firearms And Minimum Sentences To Control Violent Crime--An Essay On An Apparent Contradiction, Helene Dumont
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
In an article published in French in 1997, the author offered reflections on feminism and criminal law that would allow for a better control of violent crime, without Parliament having to resort to excessively severe sentences. In this respect, she argued that there was no contradiction in supporting the radical ban of firearms in Canada, while opposing a minimum sentence of four years under the Firearms Act, which currently affects approximately ten serious Criminal Code offences. After setting out her position in favour of the "disarmament" of Canadians, the author argued that minimum sentences of four years were unconstitutional. Such …
Searching For Smith: The Constitutionality Of Mandatory Sentences, Kent Roach
Searching For Smith: The Constitutionality Of Mandatory Sentences, Kent Roach
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
The jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Canada on the constitutionality of mandatory minimum sentences, from R. v. Smith to R. v. Latimer, is reviewed and assessed in light of relevant developments in constitutional law and sentencing. These include the Supreme Courts increasing interest in constitutional minimalism and corresponding reluctance to rely on hypothetical offenders and facial declarations of invalidity. The manner in which the Court's increasing concern for crime victims and fault levels has been used to justify upholding mandatory sentences is examined. The author also relates this jurisprudence to trends in sentencing, including an increasing acceptance of mandatory …
The Death Penalty, Mandatory Prison Sentences, And The Eighth Amendment's Rule Against Cruel And Unusual Punishments, Jamie Cameron
The Death Penalty, Mandatory Prison Sentences, And The Eighth Amendment's Rule Against Cruel And Unusual Punishments, Jamie Cameron
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
The text of section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibit cruel and unusual punishment in language that is similar but not identical. Still, in considering constitutional restrictions on punishment, the deviations of the Supreme Court both focus on the concept of gross disproportionality between the offence committed and the state’s response. Despite the appearance of similarity, this article maintains that differences in the American law of sentencing explain why Canada ought not follow or adopt the United States approach to minimum sentences.
Mandatory Minimum Prison Sentencing And Systemic Racism, Faizal R. Mirza
Mandatory Minimum Prison Sentencing And Systemic Racism, Faizal R. Mirza
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This article discusses the relationship between racist policing, the exercise of prosecutorial discretion, and the disproportionate imposition of mandatory prison sentences on Black-Canadians It argues that the retention and expansion of mandatory prison sentences for serious offences will serve as a powerful means to perpetuate systemic racism in the criminal justice system. Reporting and applying surveys on systemic racism in the criminal justice system, the article sets out to demonstrate that mandatory prison sentences enhance the quasi-judicial role of prosecutors, providing Crown attorneys with greater leverage to convict a disproportionate number of Black persons. In addition, it argues that if …
Latimer: Something Ominous Is Happening In The World Of Disabled People, H. Archibald Kaiser
Latimer: Something Ominous Is Happening In The World Of Disabled People, H. Archibald Kaiser
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Although the Latimer decision breaks no new substantive ground, it has created a furore over the application of the mandatory minimum sentence for murder. This article maintains that, despite the pre-existing need to examine the complex range of issues in mandatory sentences, the Latimer case provides a wholly inapposite base for revisiting this sanction. The Supreme Court of Canada properly rejected the accused's attempt to invoke the defence of necessity, as well as some procedural contentions. The Court also determined that the mandatory minimum sentence for murder was not cruel and unusual punishment as applied to the accused. The reaction …
Distorting The Prosecution Process: Informers, Mandatory Minimum Sentences, And Wrongful Convictions, Dianne L. Martin
Distorting The Prosecution Process: Informers, Mandatory Minimum Sentences, And Wrongful Convictions, Dianne L. Martin
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
As the use of mandatory minimum sentences becomes more common in Canada, it is important to consider a range of potential consequences that are neither intended nor anticipated. This article considers the implications of mandatory minimum sentences in contributing to wrongful convictions. It considers the impact of these sentences on two significant processes in the criminal justice system, plea bargaining and the development of informers, and argues that both processes are vulnerable to distortions. These distortions, which include the wrongful conviction of innocent people, can be exacerbated by the threat of mandatory minimum prison sentences. In the case of plea …
Aboriginal Peoples And Mandatory Sentencing, Larry N. Chartrand
Aboriginal Peoples And Mandatory Sentencing, Larry N. Chartrand
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
The author examines the impact of mandatory minimum sentencing on Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Emphasis is placed on the recently enacted mandatory minimum sentencing provisions for firearms offenses. The author argues that the enactment of such provisions are inconsistent with Parliament's objectives as reflected in section 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code which requires sentencing judges to pay "particular attention to the circumstances of Aboriginal offenders." In addition, the author explores preliminary arguments to support a finding that mandatory minimum sentences applied to Aboriginal offenders violate sections 12 and 15 of the Charter.
Battered Women And Mandatory Minimum Sentences, Elizabeth Sheehy
Battered Women And Mandatory Minimum Sentences, Elizabeth Sheehy
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
The author argues for the repeal of mandatory minimum sentences based upon their role in the distortion of defences available to battered women on trial for the homicide of their violent mates. After reviewing other legal strategies aimed at eliminating the discriminatory biases facing women who attempt to plead self-defence, and illustrating the ways in which defences to murder are distorted, she turns to the examination of the transcript of a recent murder trial for a woman who argued self-defence. The author uses the transcript to provide concrete illustrations of three ways in which self-defence is distorted by the mandatory …
Sentencing In The States: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Julie Stewart
Sentencing In The States: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Julie Stewart
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Mandatory sentencing laws are responsible for the booming prison population in the United States. They are applied most frequently to crimes involving drugs and mandate harsh penalties of five, ten, twenty years or more behind bars for crimes involving no violence. Julie Stewart, President of the Families Against Mandatory Minimums Foundation (FAMM) and the sister of a marijuana user who spent five years in a federal prison, describes the unfairness of America’s sentencing policies, with a particular emphasis on the application of mandatory minimum sentences to drug-related convictions. These laws have led to a marked increase in the number of …