Justice gone mad in car crash ruling The Province Editorial Wednesday 8 September 1999 |
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Our justice system is an ass. It's been hijacked by shrinks and other so-called experts who get it to excuse every kind of selfish and reckless behavior. A U.S. woman drives her car at high speed into a car waiting at the Peace Arch border. She kills two innocent Canadian teens. It's a slam dunk, right? The woman goes to jail for a very long time to think about her actions and repay her debt to the pair of families she has destroyed. But, no, a B.C. judges rules the woman, Julia Campagna, is not criminally responsible because she has taken a diet drug. An over-the-counter medication? Yes. Campagna, 28, had taken the drug, Xenedrine, because she was trying to lose weight for the Boston marathon. So, the judge rules that, based on what the shrinks say, that the drug induced a "psychotic mental disorder" which made her not responsible for her actions. But why then was she declared fit to stand trial in the first place? "It's the legalization of murder," says Cat Simril-Ishikawa, whose 19-year-old daughter Monique was killed in the crash. We agree. |
Judges' Decisions Hard to Fathom The Province Letter to the Editor Wednesday 8 September 1999 |
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At last we now know excatly what value the Canadian judiciary and politicians place on Canadian lives (Judge frees U.S. woman over fatal border crash, Sept. 4). What was it? A $6.99 bottle of diet pills for the pair? Oh, silly me. I forgot, it makes all the difference. That was $7 US. KEN STRANG |
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