POLS 2200 Lecture Notes - Due Process
11 Apr 2014
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1/22/2014: prohibitions reflect development of our society, the criminal code reflects broad consensus, implying that the criminal code reflects the type of society that we have determined for ourselves. Each component of the criminal justice system, beginning with #1 the police, #2 the courts, and #3 corrections; they all have their own policy mandates. Judges should not be allowed to interpret the law broadly. There is an idea that people are all responsible for their own actions. The system is designed to weed out the innocent. Emphasis on the victim and a deemphasis on the offender: due process upheld by the courts and courts alone. Anytime the state attends to offend your liberties they need to provide a justification. Principle: it would be better to let ten guilty people go then to convict one innocent person. Rate of violent crime is low compared to other indictable offences. Canadians have been found to overestimate rates of violent crime.
