Thursday, September 17, 2009

L'Affaire Jaffer

I wasn't planning to post on Rahim Jaffer's arrest initially. But now that it's given rise to a media lovefest which is eager to present him as the lone victim of his own apparent offences, I'd think there's a need to ask some serious questions about Jaffer's actual IOKIYAC treatment by the media and his potential treatment by the justice system.

Shouldn't those now going out of their way to paint Jaffer as a "decent person who was an inspiration to young political hopefuls" whose arrest was merely the result of his being "too human" also be spending at least a bit of time pointing out that Jaffer's party is doing its utmost to make sure that our justice system isn't equipped to take those kinds of factors into account in sentencing?

Of course, there's another way around that in terms of the types of charges which prosecutors may choose to pursue. And I wonder if there's a serious question on that point as well: will minimum-sentence laws premised on the claim that nobody committing a particular offence can possibly deserve to avoid jail time simply lead to the Crown choosing not to pursue the maximum charges properly applicable to "respectable" offenders like Jaffer?

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