Piling On: The Robert Latimer Case

Description:

Gary Bauslaugh recounts the series of mishaps and punishments the Canadian legal system has visited on Robert Latimer, over and above any normal proceedings. Now the parole system is taking their turn. Bauslaugh tells us about a recent parole hearing: I applied for and got permission to attend the hearing. Would there now be some sympathy and support for this decent man - whom Chief Justice Bayda had described as "a nurturing, caring, giving, respectful, law-abiding responsible parent"? Instead, all three Parole Board members launched into mean-spirited personal attacks on Latimer, who sat quietly, trying to answer their aggressive questions, absorbing yet another beating. Parole was denied on the absurd grounds that he was a risk to re-offend.

While this one hearing did have its decision overturned, the attitude of the parole board is unchanged at each new turn. He has now been refused permission to stay in his apartment on week nights (where he could study) and ordered to report to the halfway house every night.

These latest decisions by the Board, like some others in the past, seem gratuitously punitive. What possible harm do they think he might do? Robert Latimer is simply trying to rebuild his life, for himself and his family. He has been dealt so many blows that he is inclined to accept them without much protest.

[Note: Some other recent stories related to this topic are in the Links: section below.]

[Note: there are stories in the Overflow: section below.]

Links:

To read the full article click on one of these links, both of which go to the same destination. A short link is provided for the convenience of readers. Also, readers may search and browse past advisories on the web (see bottom.)

  • http://tinyurl.com/yaphkyo

  • http://www.tolerance.ca/Article.aspx?ID=67181

    Also see:

  • Convicted killer Robert Latimer loses appeal to have parole privileges expanded [Truro Daily News]
    http://www.trurodaily.com/index.cfm?sid=302938&sc=287

    This Canadian Press report says: The Saskatchewan farmer who killed his severely disabled daughter has lost his bid for an extended leave from his halfway house. The appeal division of the National Parole Board says an earlier decision stands to deny Robert Latimer's request to live on his own during the work week and only stay at a halfway house on weekends. The board originally turned down Latimer's request in August, saying his request to live on his own did not meet the rules for expanded privileges. In his application, Latimer said if he lived on his own he could spend more time managing his Saskatchewan farm, keeping in touch with family and taking vocational courses.

Source:

Bauslaugh, Gary. "Piling On: The Robert Latimer Case". Tolerance.ca. Friday, December 11, 2009. <www.tolerance.ca/Article.aspx?ID=67181>. Tolerance.ca, 6184 Notre-Dame-de-Grāce, app. 42, Montreal QC H4B 1K8 Canada.

Tags:

Tags (or keywords) briefly indicate some major topics of the report.

  • Robert Latimer

  • judicial system

  • mercy killing

  • Canada

Overflow:

Stories that EuthaNEWSia did not get to:

  • [Right_to_die] Subject: Palliative care is poor in the Netherlands [World right-to-die news list]
    http://www.lists.opn.org/pipermail/right-to-die_lists.opn.org/2009-December/003709.html

    Rob Jonquiere points out that the Daily Mail piece (see next) has an unfounded interpretation of comments made by former Dutch Health Minister, Els Borst and author Anne-Marie The. Anne-Marie The did say that Dutch palliative care was poor — but she was talking about 1971, at the very start of palliative care in the world. And Borst has "vehemently denied" in recent newspaper interviews that "she nowadays thinks she made a mistake then."

  • Now the Dutch turn against legalised mercy killing [Daily Mail]
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1234295/Now-Dutch-turn-legalised-mercy-killing.html

    The Daily Mail headline bears little connection to the facts. The story is the one reported on Dec. 3 in EuthaNEWSia: Euthanasia law is no cure-all for Dutch doctors. At that time, LifeSiteNews reported that former Dutch Health Minister, Els Borst, did say something like The legalization of euthanasia came "far too early," Borst said, admitting that the government did not give enough attention to palliative care and support for the dying. "In the Netherlands, we first listened to the political and societal demand in favour of euthanasia," she said. "Obviously, this was not in the proper order."

  • [Right_to_die] Park bench plaques part of a two-man campaign for dignified deaths [World right-to-die news list]
    http://www.lists.opn.org/pipermail/right-to-die_lists.opn.org/2009-December/003710.html

    Richard N. Cote has solved the mystery of "dignityindeath.com" (see next) — two ad company partners are using their professional skills to spread awareness in Canada of living wills and the right to die. It is not an attempt to start any kind of "organization" or to solicit any money for any reason. "It's just a personal conviction of ours," McKay said. We paid for it out of our own pockets.

  • Canada: New Pro-Euthanasia Group Misinforms [Not Dead Yet]
    http://notdeadyetnewscommentary.blogspot.com/2009/12/canada-new-pro-euthanasia-group.html

    Stephen Drake at Not Dead Yet complains that a new pro-euthanasia web site Dignity in Death at http://www.dignityindeath.com/ misinforms Canadians about euthanasia. The argument here boils down to terminology. [My complaint is that it is anonymous, and also one of those dratted flash-only sites, beloved by ad agencies, but perhaps the worst kind in accessibility. — Ed.]

  • Ad campaign for pro-assisted suicide group [boingboing.net]
    http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/09/ad-campaign-for-pro-.html

    An ad campaign for pro-assisted suicide group DignityInDeath.com features a series of park bench plaques telling stories of now-deceased people…

  • Britain: Should clergy make their voices heard in Wootton Bassett and Afghanistan? [Telegraph]
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/debates/6750789/Should-clergy-make-their-voices-heard-in-Wootton-Bassett-and-Afghanistan.html

    Martin Beckford, the Social and Religious Affairs Correspondent of The Daily Telegraph, says pro-euthanasia forces are winning: Although the Church and other denominations have made their voices heard in this [assisted suicide] debate, they are up against a very slick PR operation run by supporters of assisted suicide. This is being aided by articulate and successful families - the sort newspapers like to feature - who are prepared to publicise their relatives' deaths. One couple effectively sent their suicide note, expressing their anger at current laws on assisted dying, to the BBC. They are undoubtedly winning both the propaganda war as well as the legal one, suggesting that most people would now rather have the option to end their lives of those of their loved ones at the time of their choosing, rather than accept suffering and the traditional Christian view that life is given by God and is not ours to take away.

  • Britain: Assisted suicide must not be legalised, say BMA leaders [OnMedica]
    http://www.onmedica.com/news/8033b925-0b96-499c-b9ea-8bb020d1716d/assisted-suicide-must-not-be-legalised-say-bma-leaders

    The British Medical Association has restated its position on assisted suicide stating that it does not want the UK legislation to change.

  • Belgian Doctor Cleared of Murder Charges [LifeSiteNews.com]
    http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/dec/09120908.html

    A Belgian judge has decide not to prosecute a doctor specializing in euthanasia after he was accused of murdering a woman who came to him seeking death, but who was not terminally ill. Dr. Marc Cosyns of Ghent euthanized the 88-year-old woman on January 5, 2008 after her own doctor had opposed the request for euthanasia. It was reported that the woman had an incurable disease that was not terminal and suffered from several other ailments. The woman's son filed a complaint with the public prosecutor after he learned of Dr. Cosyns part in his mother's death.

  • Euthanasia opponents concerned about Quebec consultations [The Catholic Review]
    http://www.catholicreview.org/subpages/storyworldnew-new.aspx?action=7315

    The Quebec government may be trying to usurp federal jurisdiction in launching consultations on assisted suicide, said Canadian euthanasia opponents. Alex Schadenberg, director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, said that while health care is a provincial matter, he is concerned that the province might use the health care framework to allow acts that are illegal under the Criminal Code of Canada. Aiding and abetting suicide is a crime in Canada. "Basically, it is within provincial jurisdiction to look at how we provide care for people, not how we can kill them," he said.

  • Arizona: Police cite claim of mercy killing [Arizona Daily Star]
    http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/320936

    A 56-year-old woman was killed by her husband early Thursday in what police say was intended to be a murder-suicide…. Garfinkel told police his wife, who would have turned turn 57 on Saturday, was terminally ill, Pacheco said. Garfinkel said he had then consumed pills in an attempt to overdose, Pacheco said.

  • Hawaii: Man accused in shooting described as caring [Honolulu Star Bulletin]
    http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20091211_man_accused_in_shooting_described_as_caring.html

    Seventy-one-year-old Robert Yagi had tended daily to his terminally ill wife's needs and kept her company since she was hospitalized in October. Now he faces a charge of attempted murder after allegedly firing a plastic flare gun at her Tuesday night. A police affidavit filed with the court to support the charge says Yagi "may have tried to end his life at the same time using another loaded orange flare gun" loaded with 12-gauge buckshot.

  • Researcher to Dutch Government: Allow Euthanasia for Newborns Based on Foreseeable Suffering [LifeSiteNews.com]
    http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/dec/09120811.html

    This report from LifeSiteNews is based on the Dutch ZorgKrant story Euthanasie bij pasgeborenen vraagt om nieuwe richtlijnen (Google translation: Euthanasia in neonates requires new guidelines) In a presentation, Dutch researcher Hilde Buiting suggested that reporting of euthanasia by doctors might improve if the existing guidelines were changed. Now, doctors think that future suffering is an important consideration in considering the situation of an infant.

  • Your Final Wish Isn't Always Your Doctor's Command: Ann Woolner [Bloomberg.com]
    http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=amr0P2SxeQlE

    Bloomberg News columnist Ann Woolner: More than 900 hospitals and health-care centers in the U.S. that treated 93 million patients last year are affiliated with the Catholic Church, whose American policy-making body won't let your end-of-life wishes come true while you are in their care…. This tugs at a sacred tenet of American health care: that an informed and competent patient should be allowed to make critical decisions over his own body, even in advance. Increasingly, the patient's moral and religious convictions are taking a back seat to the beliefs of people charged with caring for their health.

  • Belfast: UVF "mercy killing" target dies [BBC News]
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8400874.stm

    A former loyalist leader whose life-long friend allegedly tried to smother him in a "mercy killing" has died. Billy Cousins died on Thursday and was buried with UVF paramilitary trappings on Monday. The 58-year-old had been in a coma after suffering a stroke. In June, his friend, Thomas Hawkes, 59, from Rosslea Way, Newtownabbey, was charged with his attempted murder. Hawkes was arrested at Cousins' bed in a Belfast hospital. It's alleged he had his hand over Cousins' nose and mouth.

  • Scottish National Party gives free vote on right to die bill [The Scotsman]
    http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/SNP-gives-free-vote-on.5887718.jp

    ALEX Salmond will allow MSPs a free vote on Margo Macdonald's controversial assisted suicide bill, reports suggested yesterday. The First Minister is known to be opposed to the idea but feels it is a matter of personal conscience rather than party politics. Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have previously said that they will let their MSPs make up their own minds on the issue.

ID:

The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid200912112528.
Mailed: Friday, December 11, 2009 15:05:51 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Etcetera:

EuthaNEWSia is a free Canadian news advisory service covering end-of-life issues such as right to die, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. EuthaNEWSia is produced by the Right to Die Society of Canada which works toward a good death for all, including open, regulated and equitable access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The editor is Michael Dawson <editor@euthanewsia.ca>. 

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