How to fix our criminal justice system

[Quinn]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

Except I do not feel judges shoudl be elected by the public or shoudl they be acountable to the public. they should be elected by there peers on standings of merrit (which is how they are apointed now) other wise we could have a society that will vote in judges on there popularity instead of there credentials.. look how polititions are voted in .. case closed.

Similar to why I do not feel that frequent referendums should be held - the average Canadian is not fully informed of all details of the situation, the history, the possibilities. Emotion and personal concerns would wreak havoc on the idea of "innocent until proven guilty". Leave the governing and sentencing in the hands of those who know about it and spend their lives studying it.

I also would be against any changes that make our criminal system any more like the United States. Our model should be Europe. The three-strikes rule is absurd - putting someone away for life because they happen to have been caught with a small quantity of marijuana? I do not support capital punishment, too many mistakes are made. And why stoop to the level of the criminal. People can change, albeit not that often. The Americans spend more on prisons than on education - I think that is truly disgusting.

In short, the Canadian criminal code is a highly complex and carefully thought-out system. I do not feel it needs any significant changes, only changes that are logical and inkeeping with the desires of the electorate.