Faithfully yours - Justice that is 鈥榮een鈥� to be served
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- Published on Saturday, August 13, 2016
By Neil Strohschein
Neepawa Banner
In the early fall of 1984, Brian Mulroney and Canada鈥檚 Progressive Conservatives defeated the Liberals under reigning Prime Minister John Turner and formed a new majority government.
Mulroney鈥檚 first act as PM was to fire roughly 250 high ranking civil servants, most of which had been appointed by the previous government, and replace them with his own people.
Now, under normal circumstances, no one would be surprised at this. Every new government does the same thing, especially when a different political party assumes power.
But when Mulroney did it, everyone cried: 鈥淔oul!鈥� And for good reason. In the leaders鈥� debates leading up to the 1984 election, Mulroney had condemned Turner for the dozens of political appointments (mostly Senators and diplomats) he had made after winning the Liberal leadership and implied (though he never said so specifically) that the PCs would do things differently.
After reflecting on Mulroney鈥檚 actions for a couple of days, the editor of one of Edmonton鈥檚 dailies (I think it was The Edmonton Sun) wrote these words. 鈥淲e should not be surprised at these appointments. Every new government makes them. But the process used must not only 鈥榖e鈥� above reproach, it must be 鈥榮een to be鈥� above reproach.鈥� In Mulroney鈥檚 case, it wasn鈥檛.
The same is true in Canada鈥檚 justice system, especially as it relates to crimes against personal property鈥攖heft, vandalism, etc. The police and other branches of our justice system do a good job identifying those responsible for these crimes and bringing them to justice.
But after the court case is over and sentence has been passed, the victims of these crimes are often left on their own to clean up the mess left behind. Their financial losses may be covered by insurance, but no amount of money can compensate them for the time they must spend to repair damage or replace property lost as a result of crimes committed against them.
So while justice may be served, in these cases, it is not 鈥渟een鈥� to be served.
In the laws God gave the ancient Israelites, he said nothing about imprisonment as punishment for criminal acts. Nor did he say all that much about an elaborate system of fines and other financial penalties that were paid to the government (as happens today). Instead, the focus was on restitution. The one who committed theft, property damage or personal injury had to compensate the victim for the damages鈥攚ith interest! And the interest rates were very high (see Exodus 22-23 for a detailed list. It will make you glad you didn鈥檛 live in those days).
When these rules were consistently applied, justice was not only served, it was 鈥渟een鈥� to be served. The victims were fully compensated for their losses by the ones who committed the crimes against them. Once the process was completed, the case was closed. No record of the offense was kept. The offender was to be treated as though nothing had ever happened.
Now I will be the first to admit that the above strategy can鈥檛 be applied to all criminal cases. It couldn鈥檛 in the day it was given either. But when dealing with the crimes listed above (crimes against property and minor injuries), it鈥檚 an option we need to consider more than we do.
Effective use of restitution will, in my view, lay the foundation for meaningful dialogue that will help break down the barriers of racism, prejudice and discrimination that, despite the laws against them, are becoming increasingly evident in our society.
That鈥檚 what I will speak about next week.
