Our Contempt for Judges Increases

The ridiculous two-year sentence gifted ( yes, GIFTED ) to boy's hockey coach and self-confessed lifetime pedophile Graham James serves only to increase again the contempt that many ordinary Canadians feel for our Judges on an increasingly frequent basis.

It appears to me that Justice Catherine Carlson gave what amounted to mere lip-service yesterday to the heinous nature of Jame's actions before waxing poetic about how the embarrasing scrutiny James had endured granted her leeway to be lenient to Graham James in his sentencing.

Based on his past convictions, Graham James likely won't even serve one full year of incarceration for the hundreds of molestations he committed against the two victims of this case, Theo Fleury and Todd Holt. Throughout the trial, the two victims suffered through repeated re-victimization and the humiliation of having what happened to them publicized across the nation's media, yet it was only Graham Jame's humiliation that Justice Catherine Carlson seemed to truly have care for. What did she say again? Oh yeah, something along the lines of being concerned about the humiliation of the so-called 'intense media scrutiny' James had undergone throughout his trial.

Perhaps there was scrutiny, but the only interviews and photos I ever saw were of his victims. Graham James was allowed to hide his face from the public, avoid the media, and with Justice Carlson's assistance, avoid having his sentence televised, which would have allowed the world to see what this perv looked like.

Yes, the World. It appears that would be a good thing, because although Graham James had been banned from coaching boys FOR LIFE in Canada, he has been able to continue meeting and grooming young boys in Spain and Latin America for years. Does that sound to you like the actions of a 'reformed' pedophile? Supposedly grooming them for hockey, but... Was Justice Carlson so clueless as to believe that?

Outrage against lenient sentencing has been increasing amongst ordinary citizens ever since the liberal progressive theorists gained ascendancy in the 1960's and changed the Justice System (which had been concerned with concepts like justice and punishment of crimes) into a Legal System where justice took a back seat to legal-technicalities, rehabilitation and other groovy social engineering concepts. Whenever this subject is raised, the bleeding hearts confuse the issue by whining "but punishment doesn't work as a deterrent."

Well listen up: It's not deterrence we want. We Want Punishment. We want the rotters thrown out of society where they can't hurt people any more, dammit. Forty years of "rehab penal theory" has done NOTHING to reduce recidivism. Don't you get it yet? If they're in jail long enough not to offend again that's Good Enough for the rest of us.

Thinking about my contempt for this sentence and for the judge who gifted it to the criminal, it occurs to me that I know very little about Justice Carlson's career or previous judgements. They may have been good ones. She might be proud of her record. So perhaps It is an ideological problem that has put her out-of-step with the rest of us. How else is it that so many of our supposedly intelligent Judges decisions offend more and more ordinary citizens???? That's the truth at the core of this rant: it is out of step with the rest of us. I'm thinking of starting a weblog that just lists stupid dumbassed judgements and stupid dumbassed judges who make them.

I think there'd be lots of entries.

As for scrutiny, It's remarkably hard to find photos of judges online, otherwise you'd see your puss up here too Catherine. Your decision to keep the television cameras out of your courtroom sure saved you that little disgrace, didn't it? I have to settle for posting Graham Jame's new look in your stead.

Link: Sun News: "Two Years for Graham James" Link: Wikipedia: Catherine Carlson

Midstream Media Defames the Pope

Over the last month the Midstream media has, in accordance with it's established gutter standards in news reporting, been fanning the flames of controversy with stories that the current Pope helped to hide priestly child molesters from justice.

More specifically, the former Principal of St.Johns School for the Deaf, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a Father Laurence Murphy.

The New York Times, AP, etc. have inflamed public outrage to the point where thousands have signed petitions in England against a future visit from the pontiff, and caused various legal types to ponder publicly, whether legal action could be taken against the head of the Catholic Church.

Now the Priest who sat as the ecclesiastical judge in the Murphy case has come forward, complaining that not only has he been widely misquoted and falsely quoted in the New York Times and over 100 other publications, but that the accused molestor died in 1998 just before the case could come to trial, and had never been referred to the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger at all.

Writing in the Catholic Anchor, Father Thomas Brundage, JCL, says he was never once contacted by any of the news organizations who so widely misquoted him, and that he would have gone all the way to the Pope at the time, John Paul II, in appealing any instructions to refrain from Judging the case against Father Lawrence Murphy.

Now dear reader, you know most of the people in our media could not be bothered, obviously, to follow the link to Father Brundage's story, nor trusted to believe him. -After all he was only an eyewitness at the center of the events of the day. Far far better to take a juicy story that attacks the present Pope and run with it.

(ADDED ON APRIL 6TH)

The New York Times antipathy or possibly, antagonistic attitude towards the Church is no secret. One example I remember, was in the mid 1990's when the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic Men's Fraternal society, had to threaten legal action before the NYT would publish a Paid-for full-page KofC advertisement in the paper.

101 People Screwing up Canada

Kudos to SPINK for creating the list, "101 People who are Screwing up Canada, and 10 who aren't."

Like Spink, I had read Bernard Goldberg's "100 people who are Screwing up America," picking it up on sale for $2 or $4 after Chapters/Indigo dumped it's copies into the discount bins (probably for not being Anti-American enough -it didn't quite fit in with the other books on the 'Anti-American Table' that usually has a prominent place in my local Chapters). I found the Goldberg book hugely entertaining. I'm really pleased Spink was able to compile his own list, and amply justify his choices, without turning it into one of those lame, 'Canadian-Version' sort of things we wince at and have come to expect from the CBC and the rest of the 'government-sponsored Canadian-Culture industry.

Unlike Spink, I didn't think to make a Canadian list. It was a good idea, that was well executed and worth your time to read.

Dumbass Parents of the Year Award...

...goes to Heath and Deborah Campbell of Hunterdon County, N.J. who are upset the local ShopRite refused to put their son's name on a Birthday cake. They also have two daughters, one whose middle name is "Aryan Nation" and the other who's middle name is "Hitler".

Apparently the ShopRite has also in the past refused to decorate the Campbell's family birthday cakes with swastikas and other similiar stuff.

Surely hanging these monikers on their poor kids is a form of child abuse, don'tcha think?