BC Government Appeals BC Supreme Court Decision on Jamie Bacon

Attorney General and Solicitor General, Mike de Jong, announced yesterday that the B.C. government will be appealing the decision of B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mark McEwan.

On June 9, 2010, Mr. Justice McEwan criticized the prison warden at the Surrey Pre-Trial Centre for violating Mr. Bacon’s section 7 right under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Justice McEwan went as far as saying that prison warden Debbie Hawboldt aided the police in keeping Bacon in isolation and restricting his phone calls. Mr. Justice McEwan concluded that Bacon was subjected to inhumane conditions while he was held at the Surrey Pre-Trial Centre.

Even while Mike de Jong announced that the B.C. government will be appealing the decision of Justice McEwan, the lawyer for Jamie Bacon contends that Bacon is still subjected to inhumane treatment while locked behind bars.

Jamie Bacon is accused of murder in one of the biggest serial murder cases in B.C. history. That said, significant questions remain as to the repeated attack of the government and the police on Mr. Bacon: Is this a classic case of pressing hard on the accused to make him break? Are the police trying to send a message to gangsters in the lower mainland?

While I do not condone any violence, including gang violence, I believe that everyone should be treated fairly by the criminal justice system.

Mr. Bacon is only accused of murder in the ‘Surrey Six’ murders. He has not been found guilty; the presumption of innocence remains. We must follow the proper process to determine innocence or guilt, not simply start labeling people as criminals once they have been arrested.

The fact that the police would take an unfair advantage over an accused when all the resources of the state are arrayed against him is the first step towards a totalitarian state. We must not subject people to inhumane treatment while in custody. This goes against everything Canada stands for.

Only time will tell the outcome of this case. A fundamental question in this case: will the criminal justice system succumb to the will of the government and the police or will the courts tell the police and the government to stay within their boundaries? All criminal cases are, to some extent, about this question. I trust and rely on our judges to check the power of the state; otherwise, every citizen’s rights are on the line.