Intelligence, Kindness and Compassion
Ontario Court Justice Lise Maisonneuve metes out justice again. This is her duty. And she must believe she lives up to her obligation toward the society she lives within, in doling out justice to the victims of crime. Which has never stopped her from experiencing some level of compassion for the psychopaths and sociopaths who appear before her charged with various crimes. Which sensibility guides her toward what she feels must represent a compensatory sentence.
In the instance of two young men who conspired to respond to a private advertisement for the sale of an expensive bracelet by stealing it and disappearing, never to be held to account for their thievery, she has pronounced sentence while gravely deliberating on the expression of regret by the malefactors. "It was an impulsive act that had dire consequences", commented Justice Maisonneuve understandingly.
This was a youth, she said, whose rehabilitation must be considered in the sentencing protocol. Although she did admit she found it difficult to perceive how Yonis Awais Hassan, said to be intelligent, kind and compassionate, and aspiring toward social work and youth volunteerism, could descend to such a plot as to deprive a woman of her ownership of a costly piece of jewellery.
The woman who took exception to 19-year-old Hassan and his 17-year-old accomplice grasping her for-sale bracelet and driving away with it. And in her determination to reclaim what was hers, she held onto the departing vehicle, until the younger thief managed to close the door on her arms, causing her to fall to the pavement and suffer dire injuries.
The victim, Natalie Galipeau, remains neurologically impaired two years after the violent incident. She had suffered a fractured skull, traumatic brain injury, fractured sinus wall, road rash and abrasions to her face, head and body, a tear-duct laceration, broken and chipped teeth and bruising to her right arm. Perhaps, however, it was the psychological trauma of the event that most troubles her.
Life, she maintains, will never return to 'normal' for her. "Nothing can make me really happy. It's not like everything has gone away. I am not back the way I was. Nothing is the same anymore", she explained. As the victim in this affair, she does not appear to feel particularly vengeful, nor did she express an opinion about the sentencing meted out to her attackers.
The younger man, unnamed because of his tender age and the protection of juveniles under Canada's criminal justice system, was sentenced to deferred custody; house arrest, followed by 18 months' probation. As for the main accused, the one who insists he was not aware he was dragging Ms. Galipeau to a violent conclusion, Justice Maisonneuve felt that 10 months incarceration would be reflective of his unfortunate crime.
He was placed on probation for an additional three years, ordered to provide a DNA sample, and for ten years is banned from the possession of a weapon. All of which leads a curious onlooker to imagine that this young man will never devote his time to social work, and to wonder what stretch of imagination might lead anyone to consider him to be imbued with intelligence, kindness and compassion.
In the instance of two young men who conspired to respond to a private advertisement for the sale of an expensive bracelet by stealing it and disappearing, never to be held to account for their thievery, she has pronounced sentence while gravely deliberating on the expression of regret by the malefactors. "It was an impulsive act that had dire consequences", commented Justice Maisonneuve understandingly.
This was a youth, she said, whose rehabilitation must be considered in the sentencing protocol. Although she did admit she found it difficult to perceive how Yonis Awais Hassan, said to be intelligent, kind and compassionate, and aspiring toward social work and youth volunteerism, could descend to such a plot as to deprive a woman of her ownership of a costly piece of jewellery.
The woman who took exception to 19-year-old Hassan and his 17-year-old accomplice grasping her for-sale bracelet and driving away with it. And in her determination to reclaim what was hers, she held onto the departing vehicle, until the younger thief managed to close the door on her arms, causing her to fall to the pavement and suffer dire injuries.
The victim, Natalie Galipeau, remains neurologically impaired two years after the violent incident. She had suffered a fractured skull, traumatic brain injury, fractured sinus wall, road rash and abrasions to her face, head and body, a tear-duct laceration, broken and chipped teeth and bruising to her right arm. Perhaps, however, it was the psychological trauma of the event that most troubles her.
Life, she maintains, will never return to 'normal' for her. "Nothing can make me really happy. It's not like everything has gone away. I am not back the way I was. Nothing is the same anymore", she explained. As the victim in this affair, she does not appear to feel particularly vengeful, nor did she express an opinion about the sentencing meted out to her attackers.
The younger man, unnamed because of his tender age and the protection of juveniles under Canada's criminal justice system, was sentenced to deferred custody; house arrest, followed by 18 months' probation. As for the main accused, the one who insists he was not aware he was dragging Ms. Galipeau to a violent conclusion, Justice Maisonneuve felt that 10 months incarceration would be reflective of his unfortunate crime.
He was placed on probation for an additional three years, ordered to provide a DNA sample, and for ten years is banned from the possession of a weapon. All of which leads a curious onlooker to imagine that this young man will never devote his time to social work, and to wonder what stretch of imagination might lead anyone to consider him to be imbued with intelligence, kindness and compassion.
Labels: Justice, Social-Cultural Deviations
posted by Pieface @ 6:54 PM
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