That mind could only belong to Canada's Minister of Justice, David Lametti. Opining on the cruelty of mandatory minimum sentences, the Globe and Mail attributes to him the following quote;
Imagine an overwhelmed single mother who walks into a store and shoots at the ceiling, scaring people but hurting no one. Is incarceration with a minimum mandatory penalty the right penalty for her?
Say what?
An overwhelmed single mother walks into a store, pulls a Glock out of her handbag, and fires a round into the ceiling... hey, no harm done, and besides, she's overwhelmed.
If there's anybody who deserves a break, it's gotta be them single moms. I say give her a break, maybe have her patch up the bullet hole on her own time... although being already overwhelmed, that too sounds somewhat harsh.
Maybe the kids could help her? Restorative justice, family style?
But, what if it's an almost but not quite overwhelmed single mom who opens fire at the 7-11?
Or an overwhelmed single dad?
Or an overwhelmed married mom? Quite often married moms are even more overwhelmed than the single ones. Look at the jerks they married and you'll see why.
When you get right down to it, damned near anybody can have such a no-good rotten day they see no other option than pulling out a gun and shooting up their neighbourhood convenience store. Mr Lametti is clearly onto something. A one-size-fits-all criminal law is dangerously discriminatory and fails to recognize that every citizen is a unique and precious individual.
A few tweaks to our criminal justice system, and that "just society" Justin's daddy used to talk about will be within our grasp!
Thank you David Lametti!
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