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- - - -- .- - . ~~p<rfc.-~rf~ WcIneday.g ylage7 PAGE SEVEN A mockery of justice Recently in Port Dalhousie, a suburb of St. Catharines, a 28-year-old man was arrested in connection with several sex crimes. We needn't go into any details -- in fact purposely will not. Nevertheless, most readers will be able to identify the man, the crimes, and the police departments concer- ned. We should all be concerned. Concerned because for months and years, one or more sex offenders have been attacking women. Two or more young women have died horrible deaths., No person should have to suffer as they suffered; no family should have to suffer the way their families suffered. Yet we should also have concern for the accused and the families of the accused. We should be concerned about how investigations of such crimes are handled; we should be even more concerned about the assaults on our court system. We should be concerned over how the media circus, coupled with fear and desire for vengeance, is making a mockery of Justice. A fair trial may soon be a oxymoron. Anyone who has read Redrum the Innocent by Kirk Makin (on the Christine Jessop murder) can see how easy it may be for Justice to be miscarried. I recommend the book strongly. Last Sunday the CBC program The Scales of Justice reviewed the Stephen Truscott case. Who has not by now heard of Donald Marshall and David Milgaard? Do we learn nothing from the past? Is the media -- and the public -- past caring? Is our lust for revenge so powerful that we will park Justice for the convenience of any conviction? Think about the following: 1) In a case which likely will revolve around a single identification, the media have by now broad- cast images, home videos and still pictures of the accused; 2) Police from one force charge a man in a series of rapes; immediately, without perceptible evidence, another force says it will charge the same man with murder; then says it has; then says it hasn't, but will in two days time; 3) The media immediately pounce and proclaim that police are investigating his connection with half a'dozen other murders; 4) Laboratory tests connecting a suspect with a series of rapes remained on the shelf for 20 months while a backlog of cases was cleared. Once upon a time, pre-trial publicity was treated as prejudicial to a fair trail and opened the media up to charges of contempt of court. Maybe it still should. Once upon a time we would naively trust police to help bring Justice to a case. Now, some police cover ineptitude through self-serving press releases. Give me a break. Detective fiction has usually portrayed police offi- cials as honest, forthright, intelligent and brave, and possessing some common sense. News media have given us pictures of two police forces who cannot agree on a common arrest date and thus coordinate search warrants and other documents. Is dull-witted macho territorial imperative more important than Justice? It will be reassuring when the Scarborough Rapist has been convicted. It would also be reassuring to prove without doubt that whoever murdered two teenage girls in the Niagara area has been taken off the streets. It would also be reassuring to think that solid, professional police work contributed to bringing a killer and rapist to Justice. Given the Keystone Cops display so far, that may be a vague hope. We could be witnessing the beginning of another miscarriage of justice. If so, you will not see police learning from their mistakes, nor the media analyz- ing their contribution to the atmosphere of hysteria. We just don't seem to learn from the past. closing of the anti-pollution MERRYWEATHER STEAM FIE ENGINE, MARCH 1934 From 1872 to 1926, Whitby was protected against fire by the Merryweather, which was built in England. John Sawdon is seen here riding the Merryweather at the corner of Brock and Dunlop Streets. Whitby Archives photo 10 YEARS AGO from the Wednesday, February 23, 1983 edition of the WHITBY FREE PRESS • Forty parents and families have formed a group to fight the proposedc Durnam Centre for the Developmentally Han ccapped. • Development of Brooklin may be stalled for five or six years. • Whitby Toastmistresses Club is celebrating its third birthday. • Councillor Tom Edwards says the Region of Durham is breaking its own laws at the Pringle Creek sewage treatment plant. 35 YEARS AGO from the Thursday, February 20, 1958 edition of the WHITBY WEEKLY NEWS • Two Whitby District High School students were injured by an explosion in the science room. . The Port Whitby firehall may be closed anler 36 years of service. • Dominion Store is selling leg of lamb for 65 cents a pound and bananas at two for 29 cents. • Whitby is advertising for a police constable at $3,300 per year. 80 YEARS AGO from the Thursday, February 20, 1913 edition of the WHITBY GAZETTE AND CHRONICLE • Councillor Fred Howard Annes wants to advertise the advantages of Whitby as a residential and industrial town. • The Town of Whitby may discontinue ringing the town bell at 6 a.m. daily. • William A. Dryden of Brooklin shipped a car of purebred cattle to Chicago on February 17. • Homes where cases of measles are discovered will be quarantined by the new Board of Health. i ~ni 1 mwmm@m%ý ý 1 1