Pubdate: Thu, 23 Feb 2012 Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB) Copyright: 2012 Winnipeg Free Press Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/send_a_letter Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502 Cited: http://www.cjpf.org/ Cited: http://www.leap.cc/ Author: Keven Drews U.S. WARNING REJECTED Nicholson firmly behind crime bill VANCOUVER -- Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson is standing by mandatory minimum sentencing legislation despite a new warning such laws don't work. Nicholson said the law, which includes mandatory minimum sentences for drug offences, is "very targeted." "We develop our criminal law legislation looking at the experiences from around the world, from Britain and other countries," Nicholson said at a news conference Wednesday in Regina. "But again, ours is a Canadian solution to Canadian issues, and we make no apology for that." The comments came after an attorney who helped U.S. politicians write mandatory minimum-sentencing laws during the 1980s issued a warning for Canadian parliamentarians. Eric E. Sterling, who once served as counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives judiciary committee, said imposing long jail terms for minor drug offences has been a mistake in the U.S. and won't work in Canada. "When you start going down this road of building more prisons and sending people away for long periods of time, and you convince yourself that this is going to deter people, you've made a colossal mistake," said Sterling, now president of the Maryland-based Criminal Justice Policy Foundation. "We have learned the hard way that long sentences are not deterring people from selling drugs when the profits are so great." Sterling is one of 28 current and former U.S. law enforcement officials who have signed a letter to Canadian senators, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and provincial premiers. They take issue with Bill C-10, known as the Safe Streets and Communities Act, which includes mandatory minimum sentences for drug offences and is now being studied in the Senate. The letter, written by the organization called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, is the latest salvo in the dispute over Bill C-10 as well as the debate over legalization of marijuana, which it urges Canada to tax and regulate. Despite the ongoing and continued pressure, the Conservative government said it has no intention of decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana. In their letter, the law enforcement officials argue mandatory minimum sentences have been "costly failures" in the U.S. and have led to greater organized crime and gang violence, corruption and social decay. Nicholson said Wednesday he hasn't read the letter, but insisted the government will move forward. "Over the years, there has been introduced mandatory penalties by different governments. I think there's about 40 of them in the Criminal Code, so they're nothing new to this government," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt