You know, one of the “arguments” used by statist supporters is that we “need a Government to provide a Justice System.”
Ha.
You can blow that argument to hell if some City of Toronto politicians and Mel Lastman have their way:
“On the top of that list is staff overtime, particularly police waiting to testify in court.
“Cops should not have to go to court. That is a fortune in overtime,” he said.
Toronto should use a system used in other jurisdictions where police representatives testify in court instead of the officers, he said.”
A cornerstone of Western Justice is the ability of an accussed to face their accuser and cross-examine their evidence. This holds true for any charge or accusation, including parking tickets, speeding tickets, or the charge of murder.
How can one cross-examine a “representative” who is not a witness to the charge?
Governments have gotten themselves into such a mess that one of the things being considered is that which diminishes the Justice system.
Please. Don’t use that argument again, when the very politicians you’ve elected are considering infringing upon your right to cross-examine your accuser. Just so they can take your money and give it to something else they think is more important than justice.
To be fair to the current crop of politicians in Toronto City Hall, EX-mayor Mel Lastman is making his statements from his retirement home where, it must be said, nobody really gives a crap about what he thinks. 🙂
No current Toronto councillor or mayor has suggested the police representative route to bring down police overtime. Possibly because they have lawyers that say the courts would slap them down like an overeager dog for just the reasons you describe. Lastman, clearly, does not currently have that luxury.
🙂
P.S. Even if this _were_ to pass, surely you could still call the police officer in question to the stand. The defence can call whomsoever they like, right?
James, I’m going to try to do some more research on this – but apparently there are already some “jurisdictions” that have “representatives” that appear in court.
They do this in my kids school its a neat way to spend a lot of tax dollars. The math teacher will have someone to represent them when some parent wants to ask why Abdul isn’t doing good at math. The representative who isn’t in the class will tell you what his problem is.
It’s loony.
A cornerstone of Western Justice is the ability of an accussed to face their accuser and cross-examine their evidence. This holds true for any charge or accusation, including parking tickets, speeding tickets, or the charge of murder.
It “should” do that but when you keep underminging the foundations of society you can get rid of these pesky little things. If you don’t throw things out you are not being progressive.
Theres a whole blogroll of people like that.
James, I’m going to try to do some more research on this – but apparently there are already some “jurisdictions” that have “representatives” that appear in court.
I do know that processes that have been instituted make it much more difficult for some to challenge some “revenue” types of charges. For example, years ago in Ontario, you could indicate that you would be disputing a traffic charge by mailing your indication of wanting a court date.
Now, you cannot do that that. You must attend the court house in person, stand in a lineup, and speak with a courthouse staff person that will sometimes argue with you about your desire for a courtdate.
I know, because it happened to me once. I once was on my way to a vehicle licencing office in order to purchase my annual valtag after it had expired.. and a police officer pulled me over on my way there. I explained to him I was actually driving to the licence office to purchase the renewal for my licence plates and he said that he was still going to give me a ticket, but that if I could show him that indeed, that same day, I purchased the renewal, he’d withdraw the charge in court.
I went and purchased the renewal, then had to attend a court office to set a court date. The courhouse person argued with me about my request for a courtdate.
The system is becoming such that it is much more difficult to get your “day in court” for some charges. It’s not about “justice,” it’s about getting revenues.