PEOPLE:
GOOD NEWS DIVISION:
ROBERT LATIMER WINS DAY PAROLE !
Molly has blogged previously on the case of Robert Latimer, convicted in the October 1993 mercy killing of his severely disabled daughter Tracy Latimer(see our archives for Dec. 7, 2007 and Jan. 26, 2008). His "crime" was that he wished to spare her further pain. Despite the recommendation of the jury in the case that he be granted parole after only a year in jail he was sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole eligibility for 10 years. He was the only person in canada to ever serve time for a mercy killing. While he is not eligible for full parole for another 3 years he was eligible to apply for "day parole". Last December the National Parole Board refused his application, mainly because he didn't grovel and engage in psychobabble at his hearing- like every person who has full intent to commit the same crimes again always does- psychobabble is the present language of authority and you can get away with murder if you speak their language. Mr. Latimer still fully believes that what he did what the right thing. On appeal, however, the Appeal Division of the National Parole Board found today that the Board that heard Mr. Latimer's case erred because it was obvious that their main mandate, to ascertain whether an inmate will re-offend, was not the basis of their decision. As most people familiar with the case know Latimer has pretty well a zero chance of ever doing the same thing again. The decision to not grant Latimer day parole offended a large segment of the Canadian population, used as they are to seeing actual vicious killers, ones that have every likelihood of re-offending on release, serve far less time than Latimer already has. The only people who seem disappointed on Mr. Latimer's release are a small number of unelected "representatives of the disabled" who make their living from being such. Others who presumable might feel threatened by the decision, such as religious fundamentalists and mindworms (so-called "counsellors", and others who make their living by manipulation) have been relatively silent about the case. Read the full story of today's decision HERE (amongst many other sources).
Robert Latimer was given two conditions for his day parole. One is that he have no responsibility for any severely disabled person (quite reasonable). The other is that the Appeal Board made an attempt at saving face by "sentencing him to counselling" (yes the same now quite old joke that has become pretty well a public laughing stock. One can but imagine the room when the mindworm tries to bullshit Latimer. One can only hope that the close proximity of an honest man with the courage of his convictions will cause the manipulator to burst into flames like Dracula sprinkled with holy water.
Latimer has applied to serve his day parole in a half-way house in Ottawa. So-called "disabled advocates" are disturbed by this fact because it is likely that he will spend his time productively in lobbying efforts on the subject of euthanasia.
For more on the case see the Robert Latimer website and especially the online forum Justice in Canada (for the latest news and comment).
