Omnibus Crime Bill: Court Rules Mandatory Minimum Sentence
Unconstitutional  Omnibus Crime Bill Mandatory Minimum
Unconstitutio  First Posted: 02/13/2012 3:08 pm Updated:
02/13/2012 8:45 pm  TORONTO - Sending a first-time offender to
prison for three years for possessing a loaded gun is "cruel and
unusual punishment," an Ontario judge ruled Monday in striking
down the mandatory minimum sentence as unconstitutional.   The
judgment is "directly contrary" to what is happening in Ottawa,
said Dirk Derstine, the defence lawyer on this case.  "The whole
question of the constitutionality of all of this sort of crime
agenda is going to be very much challenged in the courts and
this is maybe one small step in making it less constitutionally
sound," he said.  It's possible to increase the severity of
sentences for such crimes while allowing judges discretion to
impose lesser sentences when the circumstances justify it,
Ontario Superior Court Judge Anne Molloy wrote.  Some
flexibility is needed in the sentencing regime,