More Canadian Judas-Prudence: Out-of-touch Judges are to Blame for the Toronto Shooting?

While we still may speak of the culprits in the Boxing Day shooting on Yonge Street as "suspects", it's time to look at the judges before whom these "suspects" appeared during their criminal careers.

From the Globe & Mail: ... Andre Thompson, 20, who was on probation at the time of the alleged offences, faces several gun charges, as does a 17-year-old male who cannot be identified.

The source said the men are both known to police.

... Mr. Thompson, who remains in custody until his next court appearance, was released just before Christmas from Maplehurst prison near Milton, Ont.

He had served 30 days for his role in a convenience-store robbery.

Thirty days for a convenience store robbery. Where is the deterent in that? If that's the going sentence for robbery, I might change careers and take this up myself. And I can just hear this hairsplitting old milkshake of a judge, in his nasally gobshite voice, saying, "Uh, in fact, Mr. Thompson was sentenced for his role in a convenience store robbery. His role." As though that makes any goddamned difference.

Canadian Judas-prudence needs a change. The role that judges play should be reduced to simply presiding over cases, ensuring only the guilty are found guilty. Once a "suspect's" guilt has been ascertained, I say that police officers or a committee of police should mete out the sentences. Christ, how frustrating and demoralizing must it be for cops to be catching criminals only to see these crooks greeted like prodigal sons by old milkshake judges whose only connection to the world is... well, I've yet to actually figure that out. These lames could be presiding over cases via satellite link from Venus for all of the real-world justice they're handing out.

For all of my sarcasm and vitriol, the tragic fact of the needless and senseless loss of life that occurred on Yonge Street on Boxing Day must be addressed -- and not in the usual plodding, confused Canadian manner. If Canadian Judas-prudence is worth anything, it must begin protecting law-abiding Canadians from the increasingly cavalier criminal element that has (hopefully temporarily) found itself a comfortable home in our midst.

Update 12/30/2005:

Dangerous U.S. child-sex suspect seen in Ontario

Law-abiding Americans like coming to Canada for our cheap pharmaceuticals. Criminals find in Canada a safe haven where there are no consequences for their actions; where judges will receive them like fathers' receiving their prodigal sons.