Justice Mocked

Tony The Bot

Electoral Member
Nov 2, 2009
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0
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Cyberland
www.canadiancontent.net
Justice Mocked
Posted via Canadian Content

In August of 1981, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested a man they alleged to have abducted and killed at least 11 children both male and female. The lower mainland of British Columbia had been his hunting ground and the ferocity of his crimes would stun the public. Clifford Olsen was clearly a vicious psychopath who had tortured his young victims, in some cases driving nails into their bodies. He was and is for all tends and purposes a defect of nature who can never be rehabilitated, but that has not stopped him from utilizing the system for his own benefit.

Though Olsen was caught, the police still had not recovered a number of bodies. As a result, a controversial secret deal was made to payout $100,000.00 dollars to his wife and child to locate the remaining missing children. This would be the beginning of long line of cruel antics inflicted upon the families of Olsen’s victims. When the agreement became public a year later the families were outraged and tried to block the cash-for-bodies deal, but their initial victory would be overturned. As time passed the public hoped that the self proclaimed Beast of British Columbia would fade away, but Olsen would have none of that.

The family of 16 year Daryn Johnsrude received a letter from Olsen five years after his body was found. In the letter he (Olsen) described in detail the horror the young man endured at the hands of the killer. Like most psychopaths Olsen has reveled in his notoriety and used the system to poke his finger in the eye of the authorities.

In 1997 he applied for the Faint Hope Clause. A parole provision introduced to give prisoners convicted of first and second degree murder the incentive to rehabilitate after serving a minimum 15 years. The clause was introduced in 1976 after the Canadian Government abolished the death penalty.

From 1987 to 2006, 145 murderers applied under the clause, of that, 118 were given eligibility hearings and of the 118 a staggering 97 were released back into society. It should be noted that prisoners released under the clause are on parole for the remainder of their lives’.

Olsen was unsuccessful in his bid for early parole, although even Olsen has admitted that he knows he will never be released back into society. He is simply doing it because it is his right to do so. This sparked public outrage and led to an amendment that excluded multiple murderers and serial killers from applying for the provision. The serving federal government has introduced a bill to repeal the clause altogether and it is making its way through the lethargic bureaucracy that is Canada’s parliament.

After Twenty five years Olsen was allowed to apply for parole and this has once again forced the families to come forward to give victim impact statements at the hearing.

On July 18, 2006 three families attended the hearing. Among them was Gary Rosenfeldt, the step-father of Daryn Johnsrude; Olsen’s third victim. As stated earlier in this article Rosenfeldt and family received a letter from Olsen. "It arrived five years to the day after we found our son's body and in the letter he described in detail exactly what he did to our son," Rosenfeldt said.

Now, every two years a convicted killer who has served 25 years is allowed to apply for parole. Rosenfeldt has been lobbying on behalf of victims families and formed a group called Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime. It is Rosenfeldt’s contention that the law is flawed in how it handles violent offenders. In the past two decades 58 murders have been committed by paroled murderers.

Another controversy that has sparked public outrage was exposed by Toronto Sun columnist Peter Worthington. Over 65 years old, Clifford Olsen has been the recipient of a Canada Pension. In fact all prisoners over the age of 65 are eligible to receive the pension. This alone defies common sense given the prisoners are already being cared for by the state; receiving clothing, boarding, food, entertainment and a canteen allowance.

The Federal Government has vowed to strip Olsen of CPP benefits and Olsen sent the check to Prime Minister Harper as a campaign contribution. For Olsen the recent controversy is just one in a line of many throughout his incarceration. For the victim’s families it is just one more sad chapter.

Less than a week ago Olsen went to a parole hearing, and upon being turned down said that he would not re-apply, but the narcissist manipulator has zero credibility. For Gary Rosenfeldt it is likely that his family will have to return for a hearing every two years until Clifford Olsen is no longer living.

One can only hope.


Original Article: http://www.canadiancontent.net/commtr/justice-mocked_1051.html
 

FiveParadox

Governor General
Dec 20, 2005
5,875
43
48
Vancouver, BC
While the emotionally-provocative issue of s. 745.6 of the Criminal Code is indeed controversial, the fact is that most liberal democracies around the world allow the opportunity for parole at, about, 15 years of a sentence served. We must also bear in mind that the Canadian justice system is about justice, and not revenge; as much as a crime may be distasteful and offensive to public morals, the sentences that are handed out should, ideally, be relative to one another on a consistent scale. Our system is based on an assumption that those who commit an offence can be rehabilitated, and I think that it would be a mistake to revoke--for revenge's sake, surely--that principle.
 

Retired_Can_Soldier

The End of the Dog is Coming!
Mar 19, 2006
12,394
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Alberta
I don't see it as revoking for revenge sake. In fact I see it as placing a value on human life. Is the life of anyone only worth 15 years?

Our justice system is extremely flawed and Clifford Olsen is but one example of that. Murder reaches farther than just the murder victim. We must be mindful of this when we sentence criminals.

Thankfully we now have a dangerous offenders act to keep those who followed in this ghouls tracks off the street.
 

FiveParadox

Governor General
Dec 20, 2005
5,875
43
48
Vancouver, BC
Our justice system is about justice, and not revenge, and that is exactly how it should function.

Sentencing criminals is not about "matching" the death of a person, as this simply isn't possible; one cannot compare the value of a person to anything, as it is simply incomparable to any other concept. The justice system is not there to make victims feel better; it is there to deal penalties to those convicted of crimes based on the principles of justice, with sentences making consistent sense relative to one another. Whether these satisfy victims, as cold as it is to say, is entirely irrelevant; justice must be blind, or it becomes what is popular, instead of what is just.
 

lone wolf

Grossly Underrated
Nov 25, 2006
32,493
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63
In the bush near Sudbury
Our system is about justice? Why does the Crown offer deals? If the system was about justice, Carla Homolka's ass would be rotting in prison too. Justice, in her case, would be "Psych!"
 

wulfie68

Council Member
Mar 29, 2009
2,014
24
38
Calgary, AB
The justice system is also in place to help ensure the safety of the populace, not just rehabilitate criminals, something too often forgotten and/or ignored by advocates for prison inmates. I am of the opinion that once a person has abused the rights of others so as to be placed within the system (committed and been found guilty of a crime), their rights should become secondary to those of the public. In the case of someone who commits a lesser offense, like robbery, the possibility of rehabilitation does not pose the same risk as a murderer. For someone like Olsen, who has shown disregard for the lives/rights of others on multiple occasions, there should be no question of him ever walking free again. This is not revenge, it is appraisal of a threat and removal of that threat from the populace.
 

FiveParadox

Governor General
Dec 20, 2005
5,875
43
48
Vancouver, BC
We cannot create "classes of rights," as this would run entirely counter to the purpose of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms--this is why, for example, it has been determined that prisoners have the right to vote. It is a right to vote, not a privilege, and this is an attitude that we cannot forget. I am not suggesting that there should be considerations, in the process, for the public good--that's the entire point of convictions and sentencing, after all.
 

wulfie68

Council Member
Mar 29, 2009
2,014
24
38
Calgary, AB
And I am of a firm belief that those who violate the rights of others should have their rights at least partially suspended while they carry out their sentences. A prisoner should not have that right, IMO, and Trudeau's Charter be damned.
 

eh1eh

Blah Blah Blah
Aug 31, 2006
10,749
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Under a Lone Palm
It may run counter to the Charter of Rights, hell it's even runs counter to the Criminal Code but I feel Mr. Olsen should have had an encounter with Mr. Shiv a long time ago.
 

shadowshiv

Dark Overlord
May 29, 2007
17,545
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We cannot create "classes of rights," as this would run entirely counter to the purpose of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms--this is why, for example, it has been determined that prisoners have the right to vote. It is a right to vote, not a privilege, and this is an attitude that we cannot forget. I am not suggesting that there should be considerations, in the process, for the public good--that's the entire point of convictions and sentencing, after all.

When criminals have more rights and freedoms than the law-abiding victims, something is seriously wrong with the justice system. I look forward to the day when I'll read the news and discover that this piece of ****(Olsen) has died and the families of his victims will finally be able to get on with their lives without worrying about what his next ploy is going to be.

It may run counter to the Charter of Rights, hell it's even runs counter to the Criminal Code but I feel Mr. Olsen should have had an encounter with Mr. Shiv a long time ago.

I honestly would have no desire to see him except to perhaps give him a punch in the head...a few times.;)