Minimum Sentences
The case of Robert Latimer, the Saskatchewan farmer who killed his disabled daughter Tracy, has once again brought into focus the issue of mandatory minimum sentences (MMS). Latimer was twice convicted of second degree murder for what he claimed was a compassionate killing. His case culminated in an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada on the grounds that the circumstances of the killing merited a constitutional exemption, under s.12 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, from the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with ten years of parole ineligibility (Grant 2001). The Supreme Court dismissed his appeal that a life sentence, in his case, constituted cruel and unusual punishment on the basis that the planning and premeditation of the act, as well as his attempts at concealment and lack of remorse, overrode his dedication to Tracy and other mitigating factors. Unlike previous cases, the Latimer appeal did not challenge the constitutionality of the mandatory sentence for murder; only the applicability of this sentence to his case. Nevertheless, the case brought into full view the fundamental dilemma associated with MMS; namely, that their predictable quality, which is said to affo
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Gabor Crutcher, Stolzenberg D'Alessio, Criminal Code, Canadian American, Western Australia, Sentencing Commission, Canada's MMS, Goggin Cullen, Harris Jesilow, Supreme Court, impaired driving, strikes laws, mandatory sentences, mandatory penalties, strikes law, cost effectiveness, prison sentences, prison sentence, minimum prison, justice system, gabor crutcher 2001, cruel unusual punishment, mandatory prison sentences, minimum prison term, california's strikes law,
Approximate Word count = 5039
Approximate Pages = 20 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
 |