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Roadblock - A JLP MP with a backbone?!?
Roadblock
Published: Wednesday | June 9, 20100 Comments and 0 Reactions
Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller.
Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter
Fewer THAN two hours after legislators passed regulations which will give effect to the plea-bargaining law, strong opinions converged from both sides of the political divide, warning that the six crime bills would make the far-reaching measure ineffective.
Government backbencher and attorney-at-law, Clive Mullings, dismissed party loyalty yesterday while cautioning against "perilous pitfalls" that provisions in the crime bills may create.
"Let us be criticised for holding up the crime bills, because that criticism is unfounded. Let us be criticised for seeking to be an obstacle to fighting crime, for that is for the unthinking.
"I don't care about Opposition and Government here; we are legislators, looking at the rights of the people," Mullings said to resounding applause from the Opposition benches.
Supporting an earlier point made by Opposition Spokesman on National Security, Peter Bunting, the West Central St James member of parliament said the mandatory minimum-sentencing provisions ran counter to the plea-bargaining law.
"Let's look logically at what we have on the table, because in striving at getting at this evil, we (may) trip ourselves up," he said.
Silent but visible support also came from the speaker's chair during yesterday's debate. Deputy Speaker Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert, who was presiding at the time, lightly tapped her desk endorsing the points made.
Dalrymple-Philibert is also a lawyer.
Executive director of human-rights lobby Jamaicans for Justice, Dr Carolyn Gomes, encouraged the legislators to tread carefully.
"We need to be smart, we need not to do things that haven't worked in the past, expecting a different result," she told The Gleaner after watching, from the gallery of Gordon House, the debate.
She made it clear that a united stand against violence was necessary, but insisted that the current approach was flawed.
Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller urged extensive dialogue with stakeholders in an attempt to reach consensus.
"It can hardly make sense passing legislation which we know is going to be challenged in the courts," she said, adding that it was "far better to arrive at a consensus as to the way forward in the knowledge that what is being done can stand the test of time.
"In this House, any law we pass must minimise the likelihood of injustice for any Jamaican child, man or woman, rich or poor, black or white," she insisted.
Central Kingston MP and attorney-at-law Ronald Thwaites told his fellow legislators that he would not be able to support the crime bills as tabled.
Thwaites said the proposed laws placed a responsibility on the police force which should reside with the judiciary.
"To allege that the judiciary is somehow soft on sentencing or soft on bail is to quite ignore their existing and long-standing practice," he said.
Thwaites indicated that one of the measures - seeking to impose mandatory sentencing of a minimum of 15 years - would fail.
"It is an affront to the dignity and impartiality of our judiciary to hamper them with mandatory sentencing. We have been this way before, to our disgrace and disuse," he said.
edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com
Published: Wednesday | June 9, 20100 Comments and 0 Reactions
Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller.
Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter
Fewer THAN two hours after legislators passed regulations which will give effect to the plea-bargaining law, strong opinions converged from both sides of the political divide, warning that the six crime bills would make the far-reaching measure ineffective.
Government backbencher and attorney-at-law, Clive Mullings, dismissed party loyalty yesterday while cautioning against "perilous pitfalls" that provisions in the crime bills may create.
"Let us be criticised for holding up the crime bills, because that criticism is unfounded. Let us be criticised for seeking to be an obstacle to fighting crime, for that is for the unthinking.
"I don't care about Opposition and Government here; we are legislators, looking at the rights of the people," Mullings said to resounding applause from the Opposition benches.
Supporting an earlier point made by Opposition Spokesman on National Security, Peter Bunting, the West Central St James member of parliament said the mandatory minimum-sentencing provisions ran counter to the plea-bargaining law.
"Let's look logically at what we have on the table, because in striving at getting at this evil, we (may) trip ourselves up," he said.
Silent but visible support also came from the speaker's chair during yesterday's debate. Deputy Speaker Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert, who was presiding at the time, lightly tapped her desk endorsing the points made.
Dalrymple-Philibert is also a lawyer.
Executive director of human-rights lobby Jamaicans for Justice, Dr Carolyn Gomes, encouraged the legislators to tread carefully.
"We need to be smart, we need not to do things that haven't worked in the past, expecting a different result," she told The Gleaner after watching, from the gallery of Gordon House, the debate.
She made it clear that a united stand against violence was necessary, but insisted that the current approach was flawed.
Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller urged extensive dialogue with stakeholders in an attempt to reach consensus.
"It can hardly make sense passing legislation which we know is going to be challenged in the courts," she said, adding that it was "far better to arrive at a consensus as to the way forward in the knowledge that what is being done can stand the test of time.
"In this House, any law we pass must minimise the likelihood of injustice for any Jamaican child, man or woman, rich or poor, black or white," she insisted.
Central Kingston MP and attorney-at-law Ronald Thwaites told his fellow legislators that he would not be able to support the crime bills as tabled.
Thwaites said the proposed laws placed a responsibility on the police force which should reside with the judiciary.
"To allege that the judiciary is somehow soft on sentencing or soft on bail is to quite ignore their existing and long-standing practice," he said.
Thwaites indicated that one of the measures - seeking to impose mandatory sentencing of a minimum of 15 years - would fail.
"It is an affront to the dignity and impartiality of our judiciary to hamper them with mandatory sentencing. We have been this way before, to our disgrace and disuse," he said.
edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com
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