Wednesday, December 16. 2020

Wow...we have a Wednesday. No Flex today so today's schedule is: 

9:15 - 11:50 B Block Legal Studies 

12:30 - 3:05 C Block Social and Environmental Sciences 

B Block Legal Studies - Today in order to prepare for our Law & Order episode we'll watch a CBC Fifth Estate documentary on Karla Homolka and her plea bargain that includes real interviews with her. Her husband, Paul Bernardo was sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the murder of Tammy Homolka (Karla's sister) and the kidnappings /murders of Kristin French and Leslie Mahaffey (Bernardo was classified as a ‘dangerous offender,’ meaning it is unlikely he will ever be set free). In exchange for pleading guilty to manslaughter and testifying against Bernardo, Karla Homolka accepted a ten-year plea bargain for her roles that was later upgraded to a twelve-year plea bargain – a far lighter sentence than many Canadians believed, and still believe, she deserved.

Homolka was released on July 4, 2005, and originally opted to live under the name Karla Teale (Bernardo and Homolka had originally planned to change their surname to Teale, in honor of fictional killer Martin Thiel). For more news on Karla Homolka (who tried to change her name to Leanne Bordelais but now lives under her new name of Leanne Teale) check out the article at the Globe and Mail here...or The Toronto Star here or this CTV Montreal article from (literally) yesterday.
After, we'll watch the Law & Order episode “Fools for Love” (season 10, episode 15). This episode is based on the Leslie Mahaffy, Kristen French, and Tammy Homolka cases. I look forward to a conversation about plea bargains afterwords. I'd like you to work on question 7 from page 179:

The plea negotiation has become the primary means of dispensing justice in Canada. It is effective, both for accused criminals looking to minimize their punishment and for prosecutors coping with the torrent of cases sloshing through the courts. Is it morally correct to trade the legal rights guaranteed by the Charter for convenience and cost savings?
 
This question deals with Plea Bargains in Criminal Law. From the Department of Justice here in Canada: 

Broadly speaking, the promises that may be made by Crown counsel fall into three, overlapping categories: (1) promises relating to the nature of the charges to be laid (charge bargaining); (2) promises relating to the ultimate sentence that may be meted out by the court (sentence bargaining); and (3) promises relating to the facts that the Crown may bring to the attention of the trial judge (fact bargaining).

1. Charge Bargaining
   1. Reduction of the charge to a lesser included offence;
   2. Withdrawal or stay of other charges or the promise not to proceed with other possible charges; or
   3. Promise not to charge friends or family of the defendant; or
   4. Promise to withdraw a charge in return for the defendant's undertaking to enter into a peace bond.
2. Sentence Bargaining
   1. Promise to proceed summarily rather than by way of indictment;
   2. Promise to make a specific sentence recommendation;
   3. Promise not to oppose defence counsel's sentence recommendation;
   4. Promise to submit a joint sentencing submission;
   5. Promise not to appeal against sentence imposed at trial;
   6. Promise not to apply for a more severe penalty (for example, by not giving notice to seek a higher range of sentence based on the accused's previous conviction – s. 727 of the Criminal Code);
   7. Promise not to apply to the trial court for a finding that the accused is a dangerous offender (s. 753 of the Criminal Code) or a long–term offender (s. 753.1 of the Criminal Code);
   8. Promise to make a representation as to the place of imprisonment, type of treatment, etc.; or
   9. Promise to arrange the sentence hearing before a particular judge.
3. Fact bargaining
   1. promise not to "volunteer" information detrimental to the accused during the sentencing hearing;
   2. promise not to mention a circumstance of the offence that may be interpreted by the judge as an aggravating factor (see, for example, the aggravating factors listed in s. 718.2(a) of the Criminal Code)

You'll have time to work on your questions from the week (*cough cough* Check MyEdBC).

C Block Social and Environmental Sciences - Today we are back in the Library / Learning Commons for your LAST DAY to work on your Salish Sea poster project. Remember you need to choose two of the following

1. Commercial Shipping
2. Expansion (twinning) of the Trans Mountain Pipeline
3. Aquaculture (both shellfish and finfish)
4. Indigenous Territories, land claims and businesses
5. Species at Risk (and legislation to protect them)
6. Eco - Tourism (including whale watching, sea kayaking, and boating)
7. Waste Management (Urban and Industrial)
8. Fisheries (fin fish commercial, sport, and Indigenous)
9. Population growth 

By the year 2025, we can expect the population in the Salish Sea ecosystem to expand to over nine million people. Sustainability of the Salish Sea ecosystem is critical to our continued use and enjoyment of this place. Your poster is going to be a small "snapshot" on the Health of the Salish Sea to help show progress in sustainably managing the Salish Sea ecosystem and its valuable resources, where conditions are declining, and where course corrections are needed. So for each topic you choose, find out:

• What's happening?
• Why is it important?
• Why is it happening?
• What are we doing about it?

In essence...what are the problems and what are the potential solutions. We have the learning commons booked today for this and will have poster paper and a colour map of the Salish Sea for you to focus your information around that you'll get today in class.