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Jaffer case draws fire from John Howard Society

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 8:16pm
The head of the John Howard Society says Justice Minister Rob Nicholson should take a long, honest look at the Rahim Jaffer case.

Craig Jones says Nicholson should apply lessons from the case to the Conservative criminal justice agenda.

Jones says the Jaffer case shows how mandatory minimum sentences don't work, because they take away discretion from judges to find proportionality in the justice system.

Jaffer is a former senior Conservative MP in the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He walked out of an Ontario courtroom yesterday after drunk driving and cocaine possession charges were dropped against him. In return, Jaffer pleaded guilty to a careless driving charge.

The decision drew howls of outrage from government critics. They accused the Conservatives of gross hypocrisy for promoting an aggressive ``tough-on-crime'' agenda while remaining silent when the mantra was not applied to one of their own. (The Canadian Press, ccg)

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