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Judge
Paul Cosgrove |
Embedded reporters?
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- `Two solitudes' of justice
and media to meet
Bryant wants panel to `bridge the gap'
Concerns include naming suspects
TRACEY TYLER, LEGAL AFFAIRS
REPORTER, The Toronto Star, Jan. 6, 2005
Attorney-General Michael Bryant
says he wants to build public confidence in Ontario's justice
system by making it more transparent and better understood.
Bryant announced yesterday
he has established a committee where representatives of the justice
system and media can discuss pressing concerns, involving everything
from the issue of revealing journalistic sources to the appropriateness
of naming suspects in criminal cases.
The six-member Panel on Justice
and the Media includes former Toronto Star publisher John
Honderich and Justice James MacPherson of the Ontario Court of
Appeal, as well as representatives of the Crown, defence bar
and police.
"I feel the public deserves
to know everything about the justice system that we can possibly
provide," Bryant told reporters at the University Ave. courthouse,
after making the announcement at the annual ceremony to mark
the opening of the province's courts.
While Canada has a long tradition
of open courts, few members of the public ever attend trials
and millions rely on the media to form opinions about how the
legal system is working, he said. The media and justice system,
however, have generally operated as "two solitudes"
and "change is needed," Bryant said.
The justice system, inherited
from the 18th century, operates in a 21st-century "media
spotlight" for a cable news generation that expects "virtually
instantaneous transmission of information about verdicts and
court orders," he said.
Asked if he's advocating cameras
in the courtroom or improved access to court exhibits, Bryant
said he doesn't know what the committee will discuss.
But few reporters understand
how a courtroom works and even fewer judges and lawyers understand
the workings of a newsroom, Bryant said, adding a natural "tension"
exists and he is hoping to "bridge the gap."
In a brief interview yesterday,
MacPherson said he was happy to accept the invitation. No two
institutions are more important in a democracy than the justice
system and the media, and so much of contemporary journalism
involves coverage of courts, he said, adding that "something
good" may come from the committee's work. Bryant said he
will be making another simple but "perhaps radical"
change: posting regular statistical reports on his ministry's
website about cases entering and dealt with by the justice system.
If a case is thrown out for
unreasonable delay in getting to trial, the information will
allow people to assess whether such a delay is normal, Bryant
said.
|
 Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
Truth suppress'd, whether
by courts or crooks, will find an avenue to be told. Sheila Steele, injusticebusters.com
If you hold the mouth
of Truth, It will burst out its rib-cage. Somali proverb
Publisher : Sheila
Steele
Got something
to say about this or any other stories on this site? Go to injusticebustersblog Participate!
- injusticebusters
court advice :
- How to walk yourself through the justice system
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- Why you should dump your preliminary hearing (written July 1998 and still valid)
-
- Sermonette:
The
Naked Truth -- (You
will find links to many more sermonettes in the sidebar on this
page
Another target
of Dueck's malice: : Wilf Hathway
Our activism
contributed greatly to the good vibes which happened around the
civil trial.
Index
to the stories on this website
This is not
regularly updated so if you are looking for a particular story
and you have a name or keyword, please use the site search engine(at
the bottom of the page) which IS regularly updated
Index to Saskatoon Police stories
This is a pretty good scrapbook
for the 1998-2002 period.
Inquiry into the malicious prosecution of David
Milgaard untanling 36 years of Saskatchewan police and Crown
misconduct: : Opening day 1 | 2
| 3 | 4
| 5 | 6
| 7 |
- Stephen
Williams: Canadian
writer subject to Stasi-like treatment by Canadian police
- Terry
Arnold: : Snitch a
suicide?
- RCMP
scenario stings: Brian
Hutchinson starts digging
- Gary
wells: Faulty eye-witness
testimony
- Tulia,
Texas
- Gilmer,
Texas
- Willie
Upshaw
- Wrongfully convicted in Canada
- Foster Parent false accusations
- Martensville
- Don
Smith obscenity trial: an obscene conviction
- James
Lockyer
- Hurricane
Carter
- Johnny Cochran speaks up for
Bill Sampson
- Vopnis
- Abdulai
Mohamed
The Terrible Story behind the Atif Rafay and
Sebastian Burns convictions
Trial
set for June 15
We
know part of this disclosure is a forged statement and perjured
affidavit from a Winnipeg cop
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-
-
-
The
Crown is still fighting Fred Poirier -- and they are losing.
Secret Commissions Case from Northern B.C.
-
-
- 2005: In
the United States the proven wrongful convictions just keep coming
at us!
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- Brandon Morin:
- Convicted in Oregon
- of rapes which did not happen
- This website has good information
about Measure 11 -- Oregon's Mandatory Sentencing requirements
which have been in place since 1994. In this case we see how
the combination of a flawed grand jury system and prosecutors
who seek not justice but convictions is a recipe for wrongful
convictions.
-
Canadians who
have been wrongfully convicted because of improper investigations
combined with zealous Crown
A round-up of wrongful convictions in Canada
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