A ‘free pass’ means “The BC Court of Appeal reduced the sentence from 9 years to 7,”?

What an idiot…

You find conservativism and classical liberalism “authoritarian”? Odd. Try disengaging yourself and your property from the statist flavours of political organization in Canada and see where real “authoritarianism” lies.

From the article: “The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled the judge at Darnell Pratt’s trial didn’t properly take into account his young age and his aboriginal background.”

It’s the law that’s racist in this case, SL.

Pratt originally pleaded guilty and was sentenced as an adult (so the Appeals Court judge really has no basis for citing his youth). He had spent about 14 months in jail waiting for trial, so his original sentence of 9 years for the deliberate killing of Grant DePatie was automatically reduced by 28 months, leaving him to serve 6 years and 8 months. That would make him eligible for parole in two years and three months from the time of sentencing.

With the reduction of time by two years, though, Pratt can now be out of jail almost before he gets there. Why? Because he’s “aboriginal” or “first nations” or whatever you want to call it.

And what, exactly, did he do to win this get-out-of-jail-early card? From another article almost a year ago:

“On March 7 last year, Pratt drank about 20 beers while hanging out and breaking into cars with friends. That night, he stole a Chrysler LeBaron and tried to flee an Esso station without paying for $12.30 in gas. Esso worker Grant De Patie tried to stop him, and the unlicensed car thief ran him over.

After hitting De Patie and driving around Maple Ridge, Pratt went to a friend’s and told people he’d killed someone. Then he and others drove in a stolen truck to Hope and back.”

Visualize that. Better still, come out to Maple Ridge and walk the five miles where Grant was literally ground into the roadway. Listen for the screams as his body is being filed into slivers, caught between the undercarriage of a stolen car being piloted by a drunk driver who knew he was there, and the pavement.

Mike: There are no subleties in this case. It was a brutal, bloody, and deliberate murder.

“Is that what happened.”

Essentially, yes, that is precisely what happened. That’s what the judge from the Appeals Court said.

I guess I gotta read more dictionaries. I completely missed the redefinition of “free pass”, I was labouring under the impression that it meant the same thing now as it did when I was a kid - you know, no penalty.

“A seven year sentence is a “free pass”? Don’t be silly.”

Balb, that seven years is actually going to add up to a whole lot less than seven years. He will be able to apply for parole sometime this year. And, being “first nations” or whatever the current politically correct buzzword is, he will get parole! Out of jail, and essentially free to do anything he wants. And all because the law says that “we” have to make great big excuses for him because he’s racially impaired!

This would not happen if he weren’t Indian. If he were a white man, he’d be spending more time behind bars (not enough — not for the deliberate killing of a man, but more than he got). If that isn’t racist policy, I don’t know what is.

Dammit, I’m Indian, and this drives me frickin’ crazy! I get some people lookin’ at me like I’m gonna do something vile to their kids, and because I’m not a white man, I’m gonna get away with it! That somehow the law is gonna let me do whatever illegal or stupid thing I want…just because the law says that today’s citizens have to pay some kind of penance for the fact that my ancestors got turfed out of their homes so Lord Stanley could have his bloody park in the middle of the best piece of real estate in downtown Vancouver!

If we want to defeat racism in this country, we have to get rid of laws that make excuses based on someone’s race, religion, or family history. Kill someone, go to jail. Stay there. Period.