“[…] We should seek to establish an advisory committee comprising of eminent jurists and law enforcement officials from some [foreign] jurisdictions (possibly a five-member panel) to undertake a comprehensive review of our existing laws and other measures/practices in our criminal justice system. “[…] Accordingly, all crimes related to the illegal importation …
Read More »Dear Editor: Khan calling for the death penalty is engaging in doublethink
“[…] Mr Khan must know of the hundreds of people missing and presumed dead in T&T. Those are counted by the population as homicides. No perpetrators have been found. The hangman’s noose swings empty and idle. “… Mr Khan must know that in the finding of guilt, the criminal justice …
Read More »Vaneisa: Should we hang? Does death penalty really act as a deterrent?
A young woman wrote this to me after my last column: ‘I’ve been thinking about this death penalty debate. I don’t know where I stand…’ It recalled for me a time when I too, did not know where to stand and how that changed. I easily remember traumatic episodes from …
Read More »Khan SC: It’s 100 times more likely a guilty person will be freed than an innocent convicted in T&T
“[…] We subscribe to a criminal justice system which is fair though not infallible. What the abolitionists must bear in mind is that if a man is really innocent, it is better that he be executed than be incarcerated for life; for that man—knowing he is innocent—would live a life …
Read More »Vaneisa: Divided we stand… something has to be done T&T
One group: burning tyres, pieces of wood, cardboard—debris really—in protest against the conditions of roads that are impassable or collapsing; or the absence of water via taps or trucks; or maybe it’s a bridge gone, cutting them off; or a fallen tree yet to be cleared; or a downed electricity …
Read More »Dear Editor: The death penalty won’t make our women or girls safe
Once again, the Catholic Commission for Social Justice (CCSJ) and the Greater Caribbean for Life (GCL) urge T&T’s government to focus on human development and crime prevention rather than expend time and energy in seeking to resume hanging. CCSJ and GCL are aware that passions are running high in T&T …
Read More »Dear Editor: The hangman never left; the problem is the inefficient Police Service
“Billions of dollars have been spent on the TnT police service (TTPS) and they have been given anything they have asked for to fight crime. Yet, TTPS is probably the lowest performing police service in the world. “[…] The TTPS is a ‘dumping ground’ for people who achieved less than …
Read More »Hanging in disbelief: The truth behind shambolic political posturing over the death penalty
The Privy Council decided in 1993—in the case of Pratt and Morgan—that execution could not lawfully take place more than five years after sentence. It was recommended that a capital appeal should be heard within twelve months of conviction and the entire domestic appeal process completed within two years. I …
Read More »Letter to the editor: Stale noose! Murder rate needs objective solutions not raw emotion
The following Letter to the Editor on the emotive response to the murder of Shannon Banfield was submitted to Wired868 by Kenna Clarke: “Bring back the noose!” is the sentiment expressed by many following the murder of Shannon Banfield. Her tragic death shook us to our core. If a young and innocent …
Read More »The real issues with our crime “plan”: Daly says politicians too busy supping with the devil
The respective teams led by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition met two Fridays ago on violent crime. The main promise afterward was that there would be co-operation on anti crime legislation, including the Government giving the Opposition early notice of the Bills it intended to introduce …
Read More »Remedies for a murderous land: Innovative solutions needed, not the death penalty
We had a successful launch of The Daly Commentaries. There is a Facebook page bearing that name. In the words of the editor, Judy Raymond, these columns “share the sweetness as well as the adversities of life in this simultaneously frustrating and glorious little country.” Her words are apt at …
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