Yesterday, on Thursday the 21st, we talked about a few crimes involving Native Americans who have gone unpunished.
The first, Tina Fontaine of Winnipeg, was found wrapped in plastic and a duvet cover in the Red River. The man who was accused of murdering her and dumping her body had a history of violence, and, on record, threatened Fontaine. He was acquitted and found not guilty. We also discussed how many pieces of evidence were not used in court, such as the fact that it was his duvet cover that she was found in. The fact that this could go on is disgusting. The justice system was working against Fontaine. I know as almost fact that if the victim was white we would have a completely different story.
Our guest speaker also brought up a case regarding a man who put a gun up to a Native American’s head and the gun happened to accidentally go off. He was set free with no charges whatsoever within two weeks of Fontaine’s case. I’m not a legal expert at all but that, at the very minimum, is man slaughter. The guy purposely put the other man’s life at risk by raising a gun to his head. It should not matter if the gun went off accidentally or purposely. He had the intent to kill or terrorize the man. That is not okay.
I think that since both of these cases happened in such close proximity to each other and how they are both very recent goes to show that other races are not being taken seriously or valued like they should be. I’m not sure if Canada has double jeopardy or not, but if they do these cases need to go back on trial. Also, the people who committed these crimes need to be punished in some way. The Canadian legal system is basically saying that it is okay to commit these crimes.
Just my two cents.
Grace Shultis June 22, 2018
This post was informative because I had never heard about these cases. They just never entered my sphere of news. I agree that these cases should be tried again, but the legal system needs to change first. If they were to go back now, there is no guarantee they wouldn’t come to the same verdict. One question I have is whether they had a jury or not. Historically, people of color are unfairly tried because the jury is not a group of their peers. This isn’t to say that judges are always unbiased and fair but when there is a jury, it tends to be white men and they don’t usually favor people of color in the world of crime.
inieland June 22, 2018
It is troubling that this type of thing happens today. It is horrific that the judicial systems are seemingly ineffective against such clear-cut cases of Murder and Manslaughter. I also know that through my lens of the world I am a white male. I don’t run the risk of being randomly stopped and searched driving. I might not be stopped and frisked at an Airport. All because I am a white guy. Now granted my hair length, might make me more prone to being stopped, but I find that the stereotypes we put on people hurtful. I want the courts to actually be fair and unbiased, to do what they were meant to do when the very first iteration of this type of court occurred back in ancient England.