FIRST READING: Fifteen days, fifteen identity-based criminal sentences - National Post
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The Supreme Court of Canada had barely convened for its fall session when it upheld a decision ruling that a Nova Scotia man who badly beat his girlfriend should receive a reduced sentence because he is Indigenous.
His badly beaten victim is also Indigenous, but in a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that an Indigenous man’s right to be spared “excessive imprisonment” outweighed an Indigenous woman’s right to be spared from “unacceptably high levels of violence and abuse.”
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Such decisions are no longer anomalous in the Canadian legal system. It is now stated Canadian law that criminals must be treated (and punished) differently based on immutable factors such as race or country of origin.
If a criminal is Indigenous, they are provided with a Gladue Report itemizing the various traumas of their marginalized background and how it reduces their “moral blameworthiness” for crime.
If they are black, they are given an Impact of Race and Culture Assessment, which breaks down how “systemic racism” influenced their decision to break the law.
If they are a non-citizen, a judge may consider the “immigration consequences” of a conviction and assign a lighter sentence than would be received by a citizen who had committed the same crime.
Add all these together, and roughly every day a Canadian court is in session, someone is being considered for a reduced sentence because of their race, background or country of origin.
To prove it, we combed through 15 days of rulings on CanLII, an online database of Canadian court decisions. Specifically, a period running from Sept. 23 to Oct. 15; omitting weekends and holidays, it represents a block of 15 court days.
