Nice to see some progress being made...sounds like they have a good advocate in Ganley for a better justice system for rural communities.
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Kathleen Ganley, the province’s justice minister, confirms she will meet at town hall-type gatherings with some of the many victims of rural crime and their many neighbours who don’t want to become a victim.
Officials in her department are already working out the details on where and when and it’s been promised we’re not talking about get-togethers in August.
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The justice minister points out the action she’s taken and promises there will be more if it’s not enough.
For now, she’s putting 39 more cops on the ground, more prosecutors in court and more civilians doing some of the cop paperwork. A lot of people see it as a first step.
“People are angry and they are frustrated and they are concerned for the safety of their loved ones,” says Ganley.
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Even if the cops manage to arrest someone and manage to get them to court the criminal is often handed a Get Out of Jail Free card.
Ganley says she hears where people are coming from on this one but she’s limited in what she can say about “the exercise of judicial discretion because they’re another branch of government.”
That is, they’re judges.
The justice minister does add there are things the provincial government can do.
“There are a lot of folks out there who are looking to prey on individuals and these people should be feeling the full weight of the criminal justice system.”
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Ganley says prosecutors do the best they can. They know what’s possible within the law and look at a few things when working on a case, including what they think they will be able to get for a sentence.
The justice minister believes it’s better prosecutors do the job than politicians.
http://calgarysun.com/opinion/column...-crime-victims