Christina Blizzard’s column in today’s Sun, Delays Derailing Ontario’s Courts, she makes a point similar to one made by a reader in a recent post. Möbius observed:
These cops are presumably innocent until proven guilty. They must be royally pissed that they will not have their day in court.
Imagine the pall hanging over their lives, accused of corruption, with no chance to defend themselves.
Blizzard drew a similar conclusion using somewhat less colourful language:
…This judicial boondoggle helps no one. And it sends a message to defence lawyers and prosecutors alike that if they rag the puck long enough, they can end up with a stalemate. This judicial foot-dragging not only makes for bad law, it is financially crippling.
Worse, it casts a shadow over the officers involved — and on police in general.
Charges are stayed, so those accused are free to go. Presumably, they can now return to their work on the force. If I were them, and I were innocent, I would want the case to go to trial — so I could be vindicated and walk away with my head held high.
This decision denies them that. And society as a whole has been denied a very fundamental and basic right: Judicial proof that our cops, the very people we trust to uphold the law, are honest.
Justice delayed may be justice denied. When justice is denied and it’s the integrity of your police that’s at stake, we’ve all been denied something very fundamental to a democratic society.
We obviously have a big problem here in Ontario, because if the public begins to feel suspicious of the police and loses confidence in the justice legal system, it becomes a vicious circle of more crime and more corruption.
I have no answers but sweeping it all under the rug is not an option.
