Donkey-Justice

"Instead of receiving something useful ... the court [was] delivered a diatribe by a highly partisan and poorly trained probation officer. This is not only a waste of taxpayer's monies but a disservice to the criminal justice system."
"This is not the first case where Quebec authorities have flouted, if not outright ignored, the sentencing requirements set out in the Criminal Code -- legislation that is of federal origin and therefore applies to all jurisdictions within Canada."
Ontario Superior Court Justice Denna Baltman

Justice Baltman is clearly fed up with the state of non-cooperation between the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario through their justice systems. Presumably working in tandem with the federal justice system within Canada. She is affronted, understandably, that when asked to provide a legal document for an Ontario sentencing hearing, Quebec justice submitted a document that was seen to be "highly partisan", so "inflammatory" it defied belief.

This Ontario Superior Court Justice denounced the Quebec justice authorities in a March 19 decision in which she sentenced a Montreal man on prostitution related charges in Brampton, Ontario. According to the outraged judge, the "gross deficiencies" of the Quebec report were "all the more galling" having been submitted over a month late, and not in the language of the Ontario justice's stated choice. Both charges, in fact, instances of uncontrite unprofessionalism.

Time was lost in tending to the case because of the necessity to send the report out for translation services, from French to English. Whereas Judge Baltman had repeatedly urged and reminded the parole officer involved in the case to submit the offending report in English, causing no little disturbance within the Ontario Ministry of Correctional Services.

The case being judged was for 36-year-old Montrealer Kelvin McPherson, convicted of prostitution charges for forcing his girlfriend, 21 years of age, to perform sex acts for strangers, while he took possession of her sizeable income related to the sex acts. The Criminal Code of Canada orders that a parole officer must prepare a pre-sentencing report of basic details prior to any sentencing.

As the 2001 book The Law of Sentencing explains, the ideal pre-sentencing report must convey "background, character and circumstances of the person convicted". What the report received by the Brampton court was comprised of was a discourse describing details of the man's crime, reiterating the man's guilt as charged. It also repeated the offender's stated belief that a "corrupt justice system" was responsible for his conviction, and he was a "victim" of justice.

"Essentially", wrote Judge Baltman indignantly, "she maligned him for maintaining his innocence, a factor which should be irrelevant given his pleas of 'not guilty'." Both the defence and prosecution lawyers were in complete agreement that the report, written by Montreal-based parole officer Lisette Charland, was "improper and inflammatory".

The hearing proceeded only once the defence lawyer -- on behalf of this manipulating pimp who forced a young girl into prostitution to avail himself of her hefty fees -- had first taken steps to have Ms. Charland's "extensive commentary" properly excised. Whereupon the offender, Kelvin McPherson was sentenced to three years in prison.

Written in French or in English, perhaps Ms. Charland should be given a congratulatory medal for allowing neutrality to lapse in favour of ordinary, everyday human outrage at the nastily oppressive manipulations of a male predator who believes his criminally predatory behaviour to be beyond juridical reproach.

And the sanctimonious, legality-precise sensibilities of the others given a good stiff mule-kick in the backside.