COP CHALLENGES MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES

An Alberta mountie was represented before the Supreme Court of Canada in a new constitutional challenge of the law requiring mandatory minimum sentences. Michael Ferguson, the officer, fired two shots at a prisoner who had tried to attack him and take his gun. The first shot was found to be in self-defence but the second, close on the heels of the first one, was not similarly excused. Resulting in the death of the prisoner, it produced a conviction for manslaughter.

The offence of manslaughter with a firearm carries a mandatory minimum sentence of four years in jail. This sentence was enacted into law a few years ago along with several others as part of a stated government plan to reduce the incidence of gun-related crime. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has long objected to mandatory minimum sentences. Intervening in the Ferguson case, CCLA Special Counsel Andrew Lokan (of the Paliare Roland law firm) told the Supreme Court that, in reducing judicial discretion, such sentences can produce unfairly harsh outcomes. Moreover, Lokan contended, they contribute virtually nothing to the fight against crime.

The Court reserved judgment.