Nova Scotia has introduced a policy altering the way black people are prosecuted in the province’s judicial system to address “systemic anti-black” racism.
The policy urges Crown attorneys to apply different bail conditions and consider secure custody as “a sentence of last resort,” while also outlining how the defence may dismiss jurors as unsuitable due to prejudice.
Defence attorney and legal commentator Ari Goldkind told The Epoch Times that Nova Scotia’s newly implemented policy goes beyond other “anti-racism” justice policies in Canada and could mean some crimes “will go essentially unpunished or under-punished.”
Mr. Goldkind said the policy overlooks the justice that “victims of these people’s crime deserved, who often are members of that very same community.”
“Do the victims of crime deserve two-tiered justice as well?” he added.
The policy, which was implemented on Feb. 29, was developed by the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) “in response to the overrepresentation of people from these communities in the criminal justice system,” a government news release says. The province described the policy as being based on the idea that slavery and “systemic” practices have resulted in “significant socioeconomic inequalities that persist to this day.”
What the Policy Says
On the issue of bail, the policy suggests the Crown attorney “consider whether ‘traditional’ bail conditions disproportionately disadvantage African Nova Scotians and People of African Descent and seek culturally relevant alternatives.”
The Crown attorney is expected to take a similar approach with sentencing by asking the court to take into consideration the “systemic and background factors affecting African Nova Scotians and Persons of African Descent in Canadian society.”
The policy says the Crown should request “secure custody as a sentence of last resort” when dealing with black defendants and should seek suitable “sentencing alternatives.”
While the policy says a proven link between “systemic factors” and the specific criminal act is not necessary, there does have to be a connection between “systemic racism” in the community or circumstances that may “explain or mitigate the criminal conduct in issue.”
The policy also lays out how the defendants may use a so-called Parks challenge, which allows the defence to request a juror’s dismissal because he or she may be racially biased. It says that prejudice in society is so widespread that a Parks challenge could be brought against many potential jurors.
“The recognized prejudice against visible minorities, including the black community, is widespread enough that a challenge for cause will be established in most cases,“ the policy reads. ”As such, crown attorneys should support an African Nova Scotian and Person of African Descent accused’s request for a Parks challenge and consider seeking a Parks challenge when the victim is African Nova Scotian/Person of African Descent.”
The policy also gives defence counsel the option to request a trial with no jury at all. In such cases, the presiding judge would decide the outcome.
‘Moral Blameworthiness’
The raison d'etre of the sentencing provisions in the criminal code deal with the “moral blameworthiness of an offender,” Mr. Goldkind said.“If there is something specific in that offender’s background that reduces their level of moral blameworthiness, whether it’s race related, culturally related, poverty related, mental health related, a judge should have that information,” he said.
Mr. Goldkind said he believes a sweeping blanket of different treatment based on racial identity or the self-identification as member of a certain group should not exist.
The Epoch Times reached out to the PPS but did not hear back by publication time.
Acting director of public prosecutions, Rick Woodburn, said in province’s the press release the new policy is much more than a set of guidelines.
He described the policy as a “commitment to more transparency, fairness, and justice for African Nova Scotians and an important step in dealing with overrepresentation.”
