Here is an article illustrating just how messed up the LIE-beral version of justice has become. With some comments of my own in brackets):
How Alberta justice system is tackling 'complete breakdown' that led to shackling, jailing of sex assault victim
Edmonton Journal: By Paige Parsons & Juris Graney & Jonny Wakefield
An independent report into the treatment of an incarcerated, shackled sexual assault victim released by Alberta Justice in February called the Indigenous woman’s experience a “complete breakdown” of legal protections. It called for 18 changes to Alberta’s justice system. Postmedia reporters looked deeper into three of those recommendations.
Organizations that work with victims of crime in Edmonton say they are open to change in how services are delivered, in the wake of a report that was highly critical of how Alberta treats victims.
An independent review into the case of a sexual assault survivor who was jailed to ensure she testified against her attacker recommended a “complete overhaul” of Alberta’s victim services system, including centralizing victims services and taking the work out of the hands of police.
(And there is the rotten heart of the LIE-beral justice system! A homeless woman with a history of drug abuse made a complaint of sexual assault against a man. That man was investigated and charged with the assault- so far so good. The PROBLEM IS that the woman making the allegations is A FLAKE- drug addled and homeless- with NO guarantee that she would show up at a trial to testify! So the woman was jailed to ensure cops could produce her at the trial instead of simply releasing her and letting her wander off to a crack house or alley way!)
(LIE-berals who criticise cops for treating the woman like a criminal IGNORE the reality- that SHE IS a criminal! Using hard core drugs IS a crime! PERJURY ALSO is a crime! You cannot simply wander into a cop station and make an allegation of sexual assault and walk away! Assault is a serious crime- even for hug a thug LIE-beral judges! The accused has the right to a trial- honest-fair and logical! But how can there be a trial if there is NO witness for the prosecution? How can a man be convicted if there is no accuser? How can an innocent person clear their name if there is no trial? What do cops do with the guy if there is no trial? Should cops simply release the guy? LIE-berals insist they are feminists and assault is a serious crime and they would be unhappy if an accused rapist was simply released- free to go his merry way- maybe to molest other women? Clearly for the sake of justice and the safety of the community THERE MUST be a trial! So the victim was jailed to ensure she would testify!)
(And why shackle her? How about: SHE IS A DRUG ADDICT! Shall we ask if she did not like being in jail and was looking for a chance to run away and score some crack? And if she does run away then we are back to that question of “how can there be a trial”?)
(On a related note- in summer 2017- LIE-beral hug a thug judges RELEASED SEVEN ACCUSED KILLERS simply because they could not guarantee a trial for each in a reasonable time! So how can LIE-berals not treat an accused rapist in similar fashion- give a trial or drop the charges? And there can be NO trial without the witness- so she was held! Only a LIE-beral stupidly pandering to feminiazi radical voters would see a problem with this victim being held in jail!)
Police and the Bissell Centre are the two primary groups in Edmonton with workers who help victims navigate the court system, connect them with resources and serve as advocates in the aftermath of a crime.
“It is clear the intent of the recommendations … is to enhance and strengthen the level of support provided to victims of crime,” EPS’ Victim Services Unit Insp. Trent Forsberg said in an email.
“A provincially centralized model would seem to indicate increased equity and consistency of services to all communities across the province. Any strategy that is designed to improve the level of service provided to victims is clearly supported by the EPS.”
Roberta Campbell, the criminal defence lawyer hired to review how the province’s justice system failed the woman in 2015, wrote in her Feb. 23 report that the province’s victim services system shares much of the blame.
“The authors are of the opinion that the current model of victim services in Alberta is wholly inadequate to address the needs of victims,” Campbell wrote.
“More so than any other factor … the lack of appropriate victim services led to the incarceration of (the woman).”
(“:Appropriate victim services”? What service is needed? Other than to guarantee she would show for and testify at the sex assault trial that SHE TRIGGERED!)
The Indigenous woman, whose name is covered by a publication ban, was homeless and living on the streets of Edmonton when she was sexually assaulted by Lance Blanchard on June 16, 2014. She was 27 at the time.
During Blanchard’s court-ordered preliminary inquiry, the woman was taken into custody because the Crown prosecutor and judge believed she was “a flight risk.”
She was not referred to the police service’s victim services unit and had no contact with any victim support worker in the year between her assault and the preliminary inquiry, Campbell wrote.
(And shall we ask if she had refused to cooperate with “victim services”? Perhaps like so many drug addicted and homeless women she was working in the sex trade and simply refused to talk to social workers? LIE-berals excel at cherry picking through facts to present us with a pretty picture that too often has NO relationship to reality!)
“For such a serious criminal charge, and for such a vulnerable victim, it is difficult to imagine how this could be the case,” Campbell wrote.
She also was shackled while giving testimony and was twice transported between the Edmonton Remand Centre and the courthouse in the same van as Blanchard. Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Eric Macklin later made scathing remarks about her treatment in his written decision convicting Blanchard.
The woman died in an unrelated shooting on Dec. 12, 2015.
(Oh? She died in an unrelated shooting? Would that be related to a drug deal gone bad or sex trade business gone sour? LIE-berals do NOT think we are entitled to know the full truth! The woman is a person entitled to some respect- but only a LIE-beral would try to handle this woman as if she was a middle class, sober, serious minded soccer Mom just doing some slumming! The victim lived a life of chaos and confusion- that is how you get to be homeless and drug addicted- but only a LIE-beral would call the woman entirely blameless! And only a LIE-beral would blame cops for handling the matter in a logical and efficient way that is fair to ALL parties!)
In Edmonton, most victim services workers are volunteers with the police service’s Victim Services Unit (VSU).
Campbell was critical of the system, writing that “the support provided by VSU generally consists of a single phone call, to refer victims to other community and counselling programs in Edmonton.” That system is “essentially the same” as Edmonton’s 211 hotline which connects callers with mental health services, she wrote.
(In other words the woman DID get offered victim services but apparently CHOSE NOT to use them! Hard core addicts want more drugs- NOT counseling!)
Campbell noted the VSU had just 112 volunteers and nine staffers for a city of over 900,000 people. The unit recently centralized its services to a single office, which led a number of longtime volunteers to leave. Police say there are now 66 volunteers, a decrease of around 40 per cent.
The Bissell Centre, a service agency in Edmonton’s core, employs two victim service workers catering to marginalized populations.
Alberta’s Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General said it is taking steps to implement two of Campbell’s recommendations, including creating a class of court workers to help victims navigate the justice system, and hiring Indigenous victim services and court workers “specifically trained to address the needs of Indigenous victims and witnesses.”
(That` nice- and it’s a typical LIE-beral solution- throw money at the problem till it chokes and dies! But it DOES NOT ADDRESS the central issue: how to ensure a drug addled hooker shows up for the trial? Unless she is JAILED?)
Campbell also recommended Alberta follow Manitoba’s lead and “centralize” victim services under the justice ministry, with government funding for victim service workers in communities across the province.
And she suggested separating victims services from Edmonton police and the RCMP because vulnerable victims often “have a distrust or aversion to police.”
The government is studying both proposals.
(Uh-huh- I am sure LIE-berals ARE studying the proposals in detail! Trying to figure out how to win more native votes- WITHOUT- at the same time pissing off ordinary Cdns already enraged by LIE-beral hug a thug judges antics!)
Rob Sipes, a victim support worker with the Bissell Centre who spent 18 years with the VSU, said he “by and large” supports the recommended changes, but felt Campbell’s report belittled the work of victim services volunteers and their training.
(And just HOW would victim services support workers have ensured that the woman showed up for a trial? Would they have assigned a team of workers- from their already short staffed group- to FOLLOW this woman everywhere till the trial date and then called the cops to come pick her up? You cannot simply put this woman up in the nearest hotel because she is going to wander off on a drug and alcohol fueled binge! Or maybe get thrown out for conducting sex trade business that disturbs the other tenants? Jail resolves the chaotic life- till the trial! )
“The way it was written, it sounds like people just (do) it as a casual hobby,” he said.
(The way it was written suggests to me that victim services are staffed by airheads! And their supporters are something WORSE!)
