In January 2000 Jason Kerr stabbed Joe Garon to death with a home-made knife and an ice pick during a fight at the Edmonton Institution. In February of last year Kerr was acquitted of charges of second-degree murder and possession of a dangerous weapon by Justice Terry Clackson who said that the convict had used the weapons to deter and defend himself against a "first strike." To most observers this seemed to be granting Canadian prisoners the right to carry arms.
Today an appeal court struck down the acquittal of possession of a dangerous weapon but, for reasons inexplicable to any but the keen judicial minds on the Alberta bench, the court allowed the murder acquittal to stand.
Correctional officers hailed this as a triumph of common sense and said that without such a decision on the arms charge, security in Canadian penal institutions would have been impossible to maintain. A spokesman for the guards' union said that the court had sent a strong message to prisoners: "You may get away with murder but you will not get away with having a hand-made weapon in the jail system."
Does this make sense to anybody outside of the criminal industry? Killing another prisoner is OK but heaven help you if you get caught with a sharpened comb? Only in Canada could this judicial decision have been treated as a victory for law and order.
Posted by at March 24, 2003 11:17 PM