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Such transparency would not be seen in front of the shadows
e-KNOW editorial
The B.C. Provincial government and Attorney General want the upcoming Stanley Cup riot court proceedings televised.
We applaud them for the sandpaper and attempt to bring more openness to our judicial system, but we are also a bit perplexed about the apparent lack of consideration of precedence being set – this being a justice matter and all.
“Last week, the dedicated team of Crown counsel assigned to the Stanley Cup riot prosecutions advised the court of their intention to apply to have these proceedings publicly broadcasted,” stated Attorney General Shirley Bond in a recent letter to the editor to provincial news agencies.
“This government believes that the courts need to be open institutions for the public and when we have opportunities to enhance the transparency of our justice system, we need to pursue those,” she added.
It’s refreshing to read that our government wants to make one of our governing systems more transparent, because making public accountability more common when doling out justice would surely serve as another layer of deterrence for would-be ne’er-do-wells.
If people knew their names and those belonging to their families and loved ones would be dragged through the dirt for their nabbed indiscretions of law, some might pause before committing them and step aside from the temptation.
The province is currently up to its chinny-chin-chin in doo doo from its rashly thrown together drinking and driving crackdown attempt – the.08 to .05 to .06 blood alcohol level flinch, now considered unconstitutional and further blemished by admittances by police officers that they knew their breathalyzers weren’t working up-to-snuff.
The initial response from the province has been to point out that the harsh drinking and driving penalties have been responsible for 45 fewer fatalities on B.C. highways. Hard to really stand up and shout back at them when you see a figure like that. But one can and one should and it will happen in court and we’d like to see those proceedings, as would many hundreds of bar and restaurant owners in this province.
We’d like to see all sorts of court matters televised. Talk about smack down reality television. We see a future television station rising from this – perhaps run by the B.C. government. Court proceedings from around the province could be showcased, along with special feature presentations revolving around law and justice. All proceeds from the station could go toward paying enormous salaries to some already wealthy gits, a few underpaid staff members and stringer journalists, and the remaining few nickels and dimes could be spent on social infrastructure needs.
“Today on B.C. Justice (said with a voice one would expect to hear on monster truck show ads), see ‘The Robert Pickton Trial’ at 1 p.m. followed by ‘Free Crack Pipes: Who’s The Loafhead Now?’ and then at 4 p.m. Pacific, it’s ‘The Riots: Kissing, Kicking, Pissing and Posing the Night Away.’ See exactly who shamed British Columbia that fateful spring night and join us in hissing and booing them. Now a message from our sponsor, Uncle Bilgepump’s Rectal Inspection Tongs…”
Sorry. Going too far with an analogy can be hard to contain for e-KNOW at times, especially when there is no terrified corporate gong bonger trembling in the background.
The fact is televising court proceedings, as good as the idea may be, will become something that will make our society even more jaded toward government and ‘the man.’ Because as sure as Facebook users will share something that makes them tinkle their pantaloons with laughter, there will be ‘God play.’ By that we mean who gets to decide whose trials are televised? Which Solomon-like gatekeeper will get the job of deciding who gets publicly roasted and who gets to slither away into the shadows?
We believe access to court and police information should be steady and bloated with details. The Americans do it right, to a point. They allow the publication of all sorts of ne’er-do-well stuff, from folks who appear in court to pay a fistful of parking tickets to who has been busted for driving impaired to who is getting divorced, is being bankrupted as well as who has shot his neighbor in the face.
We’re not saying our newspapers need to or should publish details about divorce or bankruptcy or anything else that is deeply personal. But if newspapers published – bullet form and to-the-point – details about all ‘criminal activity’ there would be a tad more deterrent in our social fabric.
Bond stated, “I can think of no better way and in no better circumstance than with the Vancouver riots for the public to see justice in action. This initiative brings us a step closer to making our province’s courts more open and accountable to British Columbians, and we welcome the debate it has generated.”
Bring it on Shirley. Just be prepared to have a large chameleon tiger on a leash made of spaghetti if you are successful.
Ian Cobb/e-KNOW