Author: Lise LaSalle

"In the pursuit of justice, due process and fairness ought to be valued." My name is Lise Lasalle and I live in beautiful British Columbia. As an experienced Court and Legislative Interpreter, I know the importance of always questioning facts and especially the news. To analyze a case, you have to remain objective and fight any type of bias or emotions towards the people involved. It is about evidence and a search for the truth. But we all know that facts are often interpreted according to the result aimed at by the prosecution or the defence. The emotional aspect of a case has to be reserved for the human treatment of inmates and their rehabilitation. Restorative Justice should be at the forefront of any judiciary and penal systems. Cases exist of dangerous offenders representing a permanent threat to society and who will never be rehabilitated. But it remains important to preserve the integrity of their incarceration. Punishment often becomes a disguise for revenge. During my activities as a prison volunteer, I realized that criminals are not always on the right side of the bars. When she system and the media combine their efforts to entrap someone, it takes gigantic efforts to repair or remedy a wrongful conviction. I am totally against the death penalty and any type of prolonged solitary confinement except in cases of extremely dangerous offenders. Punishment is not for revenge, but to lessen crime and reform the criminal – Elizabeth Fry