And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
From: Lynne Moss-Sharman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Warriors joint trial (Winnipeg, Manitoba) WAREHOUSE TURNED
INTO ULTRA SECURE GANG COURT
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from Globe and Mail:
Anti-gang legislation gets first trial run in Manitoba case
Case will see Warrior members tried jointly,
but cost of program a burden on courts
Saturday, February 20, 1999
DAVID ROBERTS
Manitoba Bureau
Winnipeg -- The multimillion-dollar prosecution of several dozen alleged
Manitoba Warrior gang members has raised concerns that the cost of bringing
them to justice outweighs the benefits of keeping
them off the street. Forty-two men, alleged members of the street
gang, will be tried jointly by direct indictment next fall under new
federal anti-gang legislation designed to cripple organized crime and the
local cocaine trade. But the cost of the mass indictment includes
<<<<<$3.3-million to local construction firms for transforming a
once-abandoned suburban warehouse into a new ultra-secure gang court,>>>>>
and an estimated $8-million in Legal Aid bills.
And yesterday the Opposition NDP and Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs warned
that millions of taxpayer dollars may be squandered if Ottawa's new and
untested gang law is ultimately found to be
unconstitutional and the mass trial subsequently backfires.
Vic Toews, Manitoba's Justice Minister, insists no price can be attached to
public safety. "The irony here is that we don't really
have a choice," said Mr. Toews.
"We have to support the federal anti-gang legislation. I wouldn't say
what's motivating us here is the economics," Mr. Toews said.
"But [the prosecutions] certainly have an effect of making people feel
safer on the streets and in the community."
University of Manitoba criminologist Rick Linden said the high-profile case
raises important public-policy questions. "There's a
real moral dilemma for the government and there's no right answer," he
said."I think if there was a certainty that this would shut down the gangs
and you asked the average Winnipegger if it was worth it
they'd happily fork over the extra $10 or $20 in tax dollars to watch this
thing unfold." Mr. Linden said cost-benefit analysis is
seldom undertaken as politicians respond to the public's real or perceived
fear of crime.
Nonetheless, he noted, crime does appear to pay: in some jurisdictions the
corrections industry has become a major growth sector fuelling the local
economy.
California, for example, spends $6-billion annually on a new prison
infrastructure to warehouse thousands of new convicts jailed
under the "three-strikes" law. "Fear of crime absolutely has spinoffs for
the economy -- just ask the alarm companies," said Mr. Linden. But he
argued government expenditure on suppressing crime should also be balanced
by spending on crime prevention.
Mr. Toews said the $3.3-million courthouse expense can be justified if this
and subsequent mass prosecutions of gang-related crime restore Winnipeg's
public image as a safe and progressive place to live. Further, if
government is seen to be aggressive in its efforts to combat organized
crime, this is a virtue to which no price can be attached.
He said Manitoba has been spending more on gang-related prevention and
intervention, but dollars must also be spent on suppression.
"Whether it's society's fault or genetics or individual responsibility . .
. there are some people who will only respond to prosecution," he said.
Police and justice officials call the mass
prosecution a "landmark" case for Canada.
The 42 men were arrested last November, capping a year-long joint police
operation, dubbed Northern Snow.
THE PENALTIES
Under the 1997 law, an offender is sentenced both for the crime and for
participating in organized-crime activity. The sentences are
served consecutively. The law applies to "any or all of the members
of which engage in or have, within the preceding five years, engaged in the
commission of a series of such offences." An accused found guilty of
participating in a criminal organization could receive a
maximum of 14 years in prison. Participation in a criminal organization
would involve the commission of or conspiracy to commit any offence "for
the benefit of, at the direction of or in association with a criminal
organization, for which the maximum punishment is imprisonment for five
years or more."
NEUROLOGISTS RECRUITED FROM USA FOR WINNIPEG:
National Post Feb. 20, 1999 Doctors imported from U.S.
WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Hospital Authority has recruited five
new doctors specializing in nerve disorders, including four from the
United States, to help solve Manitoba's shortage of neurologists.
The recruitment is expected to shorten waiting lists for treatment of
conditions such as multiple sclerosis. Last year, four of Manitoba's 19
neurologists fled to other provinces, leaving the Multiple Sclerosis Clinic
at Health Sciences Centre without a specialist. All five neurologists are
to begin by July 1.
"Let Us Consider The Human Brain As
A Very Complex Photographic Plate"
1957 G.H. Estabrooks, Creator
of the Manchurian Candidate
born New Brunswick
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.aches-mc.org
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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