Pubdate: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 Source: Kitchener-Waterloo Record (CN ON) Copyright: 2002 Kitchener-Waterloo Record Contact: http://www.therecord.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/225 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) DON'T INTERFERE WITH OUR JUDGES A cornerstone of the Canadian justice system has been given a swift and unseemly boot by the misinformed members of Waterloo regional council. The politicians should back off -- and we have this on sound legal advice. In their zeal to deal with a local drug problem, and in their apparent ignorance of how the legal system works, the regional politicians indulged in a well-meant but inexcusable act of meddling last month. They sent a personal letter to 16 local judges, calling on each one of those judges to hand out tougher penalties for people convicted of growing marijuana on a large scale. There is no reason to doubt that the politicians felt they were representing the interests of the people who elected them on a matter that is of vital public interest. But that does not excuse them. They were wrong.Their action violated the principle upon which the Canadian legal system is founded: Those who dispense justice -- the judges -- must be free to work independently of all direct, outside influences. Neither wealth, social status nor political power gives anyone the right to tell an individual judge working on an individual case what to do. When a judge renders a decision, that judge should be influenced only by the facts of the case, the guidelines set by other courts and the dictates of the law itself. Beyond this, judges can't be pushed, pulled or lobbied by anyone. It is true that many people in this region believe the sentences handed out to people convicted of home-grow marijuana operations are too light. In fact, we would agree that sentencing someone to house arrest for running a dangerous, illegal operation that steals electricity and creates a public fire hazard seems neither adequate punishment nor suitable deterrent. But that's not the issue. The issue is how dissent with judicial rulings can and cannot be voiced. Council was, in fact, within its rights when it passed a resolution advocating tougher penalties for home-growers. Council was also within its rights when it sent that resolution to the solicitors general of Canada and Ontario as well as the local members of Parliament and members of the provincial legislature. All of these people are elected politicians and fair targets for lobbying. But the councillors crossed a line when they mailed the resolution to local judges. When they did this, they were clearly trying to use their position as a political body to influence specific judges in specific cases. Otherwise, why send the letters? The error was compounded by the fact that regional Chairman Ken Seiling is also chairman of the police services board. Not content to steer the local police force, he is now apparently trying to direct the judiciary as well. So much for the separation of the powers of the state, What council did will raise legitimate fears in the minds of many individuals who stand accused in drug cases that they will be denied a fair, unprejudiced hearing -- simply because the politicians pressured the judges. Many of the judges involved have already criticized the regional politicians, and in such legal matters it is wise to defer to the judges. Under the circumstances, council's best course of action would be to apologize to those judges and resolve to never again directly interfere with the judiciary. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager