Friday 9 June 2023
Justice Vs. Justice According to Law: The Paul Bernardo saga
The Paul Bernardo transfer from a maximum security prison to a medium security prison has stirred up a great deal of public and political controversy.
What the public does not realize and the police, courts, prisons , and parole boards don’t tell you is that there is “Justice” and there is “Justice According to Law”.
They are brothers but in today’s society they are not even speaking.
Justice Defined: The people who need the most help get the most help and no one is mistreated.
Justice According to Law is not what we, as a society, get in the courts. Yet, Justice is what people deserve!
In the specific case of Paul Bernardo, most people don’t want revenge as a leading criminologist suggested. What most people want is accountability. That doesn’t happen in the Canadian Justice System.
We can discuss the death penalty in these cases. There is no mistaken identity. DNA will not miraculously prove his innocence. But in Canada, we don’t have the death penalty as we know. The death penalty in my opinion is nothing to do with being a deterrent or punishment. It has everything to do with accountability for the crime. In life if we choose the behaviour then we choose the consequences.
Bernardo is right up there with Russell Williams, Allen Legere and Clifford Olson.
What about all the other prisoners who were released on parole and committed a killing again? The public are afraid that people like this will be released. And they might be released. No one can guarantee that Bernardo will never walk the streets again as a free man.
How often do we hear that people will be eligible for parole after so many years after being sentenced to life.
I can’t think of any other more negative process where people who make decisions regarding the release of convicts, that l named, are not held accountable as to what the released murderers do after release.
Life in prison should mean life in prison.
Bernardo’s victims’ relatives should not be worried that he will get out of prison in future and possibly show up in court to plead his case.
There seems to be a disconnect between politicians and people responsible for the transfer of Bernardo from maximum security prison to medium security prison.
Do these people talk to each other before such controversial decisions are made?
Do they not realize that the public and people in power would want answers?
Why would they not notify the representatives of the affected families to explain the reasons for the transfer prior to that transfer.
The most important lesson that the public must learn is that they will likely not get the justice they are looking for unless politicians are forced, by the public, to change the laws.
Unity and forced pressure through the ballot box is the process to follow. A direct question should be asked of campaigning politicians “what are you, if elected, going to do to bring true “justice” and “justice according to law” closer together?
Don’t let them off the hook with a linguistic camouflage answer.
Your life may depend on it!
Social justice advocate Calvin Lawrence served as an officer with the Halifax City Police Department for 8 years and with the RCMP for 28 years, before his retirement in 2006. He is the author of the acclaimed “Black Cop”. Calvin Lawrence [email protected].
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