Jeff Burgar
Just over a year ago, this newspaper carried an opinion piece. It was about an Ontario judge saying “Enough is enough.” The judge said he was tired of defence lawyers appearing in his courtroom with the same old “song and dance” about a broken home. Substance abuse. And all other reasons often trotted out to excuse somebody doing something bad.
Since that time, little has changed. While supposedly, “crime” is going down, arguments are increasingly being made it isn’t reduced crime. Instead, it’s the charges themselves are lowered, or worse, fewer crimes are simply being reported.
These days, American President Donald Trump is blasted in much of American media for his “tough on crime” approach. National Guard troops in California and Washington, DC, and promises more will be going into cities like Chicago.
Trump’s first term in office, from 2016-20, was “Mr. Play By The Rules.” You know, the book that says there have to be studies into “root causes” of crime. Investigations into “helping really good people at heart” who have mysteriously gone astray. Looking into homeless camps. Creating more harm reduction sites, safe and free drugs.
And of course, throw more money at the problem!
Certainly, Trump, in his second term, is not following the same path of investigating, meeting, discussing and spending to which so many politicians are married. Call the old ways, studying problems to death, the “bottom up” way of doing things. Trump’s way is absolutely the opposite: “Top down.” Mainly, right across the board, bash issues to death. Figure out later if it was the right or wrong thing to do.
Case in Point: The stabbing death of a young female Ukrainian refugee, taking a late evening LRT home from work in Charlotte, N.C. She sat in front of a male. There were several other people on the train. The male pulled out a knife, stood up, and stabbed her three times, once in the throat. Then he calmly walked off the bus. The 23-year-old died right there.
The male is now under arrest. Whatever happens to him will happen. But what will also happen is also an investigation how this came to be.
And of course, what can be done to stop it.
More housing? Bigger food banks? Training programs? How about, dare we ask, why was this criminal allowed on the streets 14 times? And will those responsible be charged properly?
Call it The Trump Doctrine: Judges in particular, but anybody connected in this and similar cases should be charged. Possibly criminally negligent homicide. Which is essentially, knowing you are doing something wrong, still doing it, and people die.
The fire inspector warns your building is unsafe. The driving instructor approves your license despite you can’t read a sign. People die. Those responsible can be charged. But others are supposedly above such trivial things as accountability. They shouldn’t be.
People want to be helpful and merciful. But where does it end? As another judge in an unrelated case told the bad lady he gave 54 months for theft, “People have to understand there are consequences.”