Quote:
Originally Posted by YYC in LAX
First sentence in the article: MPs studying a bill that would make it illegal for rioters to cover their faces have doubled the proposed penalty to 10 years.
Rioters suck, but I would imagine it's not that hard to fight this charge. One could argue that freedom of expression, religion, association, etc could come into play with the masks.
Unless I'm ignorant, Canada doesn't really have big riot issues. As someone commented above, I'd like to see more focus on punishment of heinous crimes like murder and rape. Harsher sentencing on DUIs resulting in injury/death as well.
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Freedom of expression maybe, but outside of that I don't see where the argument lies. You can't just fabricate a religion to claim you covered your face for religious purposes. Your right to gather and protest has not been infringed. Even freedom of expression is shaky, you'd have to establish that the wearing of a mask is a form of expression in and of itself, not just something done to conceal your identity, or that not allowing people to disguise their faces would have a chilling effect upon their ability to express their viewpoint.
And for those comparing this to sentences for other crimes you're missing that those other crimes have maximum sentences that far exceed this one. The fact that people aren't always sentenced to the maximum term doesn't decrease the sentencing guidelines. This extension would simply allow for a longer sentence, it wouldn't mandate it.