Robert Latimer filed an appeal of the denial of his request for day parole at the Appeal Division of the National Parole Board this Wednesday, January 23, 2008. The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association strongly supports his release into day parole.
A copy of Mr. Latimer’s appeal letter, prepared by his lawyer Jason Gratl, is posted to the BCCLA website at http://www.bccla.org/.
The BCCLA supports Mr. Latimer’s appeal on the basis that the Panel that denied him day parole
- Failed to take into account the reasons of the sentencing Courts and the sentencing recommendations of both of Mr. Latimer’s juries;
- Decided without evidence the Mr. Latimer presents a risk to reoffend while on day parole; and
- Failed to consider supervisory conditions that could address even speculative concerns of regarding any risk to reoffend.
“The Panel that denied his parole was plainly more interested in extracting a tearful apology from Latimer than it was in performing its proper function”, said John Dixon, spokesperson and past President of the BCCLA. “His release is supported by the Courts, two juries, Corrections Officers, examining Psychiatrists and Psychologists, prison supervisors, and the Day Parole facility to which he has been accepted.”
The Corrections and Conditional Release Act requires that the National Parole Board consider only the offender’s risk of committing an offence while on parole and whether the offender’s release is consistent with his reintegration into the community.
