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| Government by injunction: an abuse of the court's process |
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| At least 22 dead at the hands of BC police in last four years |
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| Neil Young's "Living With War" one for the ages |
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"Government by injunction is a thing abhorrent to the laws of England and this province."
Ontario Court of Appeal
"Having obtained an injunction in protection of a private right, the plaintiff seeks to turn it into a public criminal prohibition against the whole community, on the ground that there would be otherwise a flouting of the due course of justice. Can it be doubted that the proposition carries its own condemnation? It is indeed an ingenious argument for securing the aid of the criminal powers of the equity court against any persons whom the court can be induced to regard as having affronted its dignity or having interfered with the due performance of its functions." Bora Laskin, 1937, Canadian Bar Review
"This has been a maliciously effective, pseudo-legal way of breaking the back of legitimate moral process." Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963, commenting on the injunction that landed him in the Birminingham Jail.
"There is today the grave question of whether public order should be maintained by the granting of an injunction..." Southin J.A., 1990, Everywoman's case, BC Court of Appeal
[This is], in essence, a request for the court to craft a proscriptive law binding on all citizens respecting certain activities. It is not the assertion of a civil claim at all, but the adaptation of the mechanics of a civil claim for the purpose of legislating, by way of injunction, a form of ad hoc criminal law...I think this proceeding amounts to a kind of officially induced abuse of process.", McEwan J., 2003, BC Supreme Court
Why bother with laws at all, when companies and governments can employ injunctions to arrest people? Let's identify bothersome activities and have a judge enjoin John Doe, Jane Doe and everyone else from engaging in them. Let's then authorize the police to enforce the injunctions by arrest, then have the judges convict people of criminal contempt of court for disobeying their orders. That way we can avoid all the procedural technicalities thrown up by the Criminal Code, troublesome impediments to justice like formal charges, bail provisions, jury trials, maximum sentence lengths, etc. In fact, we don't need a Criminal Code at all-just have the judges make a few ad hoc criminal laws by way of injunctions, with breaches punishable by contempt of court...
The following list of people who have died while in police detention or custody in B.C. since May of 2002 has been gleaned from media accounts. Many of the media accounts are based on information provided by police. This list does not include deaths occurring in jail from natural causes or suicide. It may not be exhaustive, as some incidents may not have been reported in the press or may otherwise have escaped our attention.
1. Benny Matson; May 2002, Vancouver
Matson knocked over a motorcycle, was pursued and kicked in the head by one or more VPD officers. A coroners inquest was held and an OPCC complaint was dismissed.
2. John MacKay; July 2002, Vancouver
Mackay died in the Vancouver Jail of “blunt trauma injuries suffered from falling over and striking his head.”
3. Christopher Eklund; August 2002, Vancouver
Eklund “died accidentally after a struggle with Vancouver police” when his “heart stopped as a result of neck compression”.
4. Tom Stevenson; December 2002, Vancouver
Stevenson was sitting in a stolen vehicle the VPD had disabled. Two VPD members approached the vehicle. After Stevenson ignored their commands to get out, the police fired six shots into the vehicle, killing Stevenson instantly. At the coroner’s inquest, police stated that Stevenson had reached for a plastic gun. The plastic gun was photographed lying outside the vehicle near the left rear wheel. An inquest determined the death to be a homicide and the jury’s recommendations included a recommendation that the police not be allowed to investigate themselves. A civil suit is pending.
5. Lorraine Moon; February 2003, Cormorant Island
Moon was “brandishing a knife” when she was shot by an RCMP officer.
6. Terrence Hanna; April 2003, Burnaby
Hanna died after the RCMP shot him with a Taser, a “non-lethal” weapon that emits 50,000 volts of electricity and is designed to inflict excruciating pain and temporarily incapacitate the subject. (188 North Americans have died after being Tasered by police. No independent safety testing of Tasers has yet been done in Canada).
7. Keyvan Tabesh; July 2003, Port Moody
Tabesh was shot by plainsclothes Port Moody police after he had smashed a car window with a machete. An inquest was held.
8. Clay Willey; July 2003, Prince George
Willey died after Prince George RCMP repeatedly shot him with a Taser.
9. Joe Pagnotta; February 2004, Victoria
Pagnotta was shot by Victoria police after he “came at officers with a knife”.
10. Roman Andreichikov; May 2004, Vancouver
Andreichikov, unarmed, died after he was Tasered by VPD.
11. Robert Bagnell; June 2004 Vancouver
Bagnell, unarmed, was lying on his bathroom floor in medical distress when several VPD officers repeatedly shot him with a Taser.
more>>
With his latest album, "Living With War", Neil Young has produced a masterpiece - a clarion call for action against the misguided and destructive foreign policies of the Bush administration.
I am no music critic, so I will let others critique the riffs, melodies and harmonies that Young uses to drive home his message. That message is one for the ages; a scathing, devastating and eloquent attack on President George W. Bush and his decision to invade Iraq.
As one of hundreds of thousands who futilely marched in the streets in the spring of 2003 to attempt to dissuade Bush and Blair from launching their "shock and awe" campaign, I hope that this brilliant piece of work empowers those who feel they lack the ability to influence the decisionmakers.
The album can be heard for free at www.neilyoung.com
God and Allah bless Neil Young!
