Pubdate: Wed, 24 Jan 2007
Source: Langley Times (CN BC)
Copyright: 2007 Langley Times
Contact:  http://www.langleytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1230
Author: Bob Ritchie,

LESSON FROM PAST

Editor: During the late 1960s, a gentleman in our province was 
sentenced to 15 years in jail for trafficking in heroin.

The guilty person thought the punishment was too harsh, and with the 
aid of a skilled lawyer, he took this decision to the B.C. Court of 
Appeal for review, with the hope of getting a lesser sentence.

After the trial, Justice Angelo Branca, who wrote the main judgment, 
said "These traffickers know that very few addicts are able to climb 
back to the sanity of non-addiction, and they know their profits are 
reaped from an ever-widening number of human wrecks...

"They have played for big stakes in a very dangerous business. The 
penalty must be equally imposing."

Branca and his colleagues increased a 15-year sentence imposed by the 
trial judge to life imprisonment.

Sadly, Justice Angelo Branca passed away about 20 years ago. He was a 
powerful gentleman who really cared for the people of B.C.

Unfortunately, it appears that no one in our present justice or 
political systems is capable of replacing him.

Bob Ritchie,

Qualicum Beach
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