Toronto: Community Meeting to discuss impact of "nipper tipping" on the Asian community: Sat Jan 9
Community Meeting to discuss impact of "nipper tipping" on the Asian community
Saturday, January 9, 2010
10AM-12noon
215 Spadina Ave. Suite 120
For more information, please email: mcsalegalclinic@bellnet.ca
On December 15, 2009, a 12-member jury in New Market Court found Trevor Middleton guilty on six counts of aggravated assault and two counts of criminal negligence 2007, during which he repeatedly rammed his pickup truck into a car carrying four young people, after a night of "nipper-tipping," a derogatory term used for attacks on Asian Canadian anglers.
The next step is sentencing. The law allows the court to consider both the racist motivation and the impact of such hate on the victims who were attacked and on the community affected when deciding the sentence.
In order to make sure that the punishment truly fits the crime, and in order to ensure that the court, when considering the appropriate sentence, will take into account the racial bias behind this heinous crime, a meeting will be held on Saturday, January 9, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon at the offices of Centre for Social Innovation, located at 215 Spadina Avenue in Toronto.
The purpose of the meeting is to give members of the Asian Canadian community a chance to speak about how this case has affected them in a personal way. These experiences will be included in a community impact statement which will then be presented to the court at the sentencing hearing of Trevor Middleton.
The purpose of a community impact statement is to paint to picture for the court describing how the incident of hate crime affects members of the community.
We encourage anyone who has been affected by this crime to come and share with us any physical, emotional or other negative effect you may have experienced; including such impact on your way of living, your relationship with your families or the people in your community, your sense of belonging, as well as your safety and security.
This meeting is hosted by the Community Reference Group, the Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic and CCNCTO.
ASIAN CANADIAN COMMUNITY TO ATTEND
SENTENCING FOR MIDDLETON IN ANGLER ASSAULTS CASE
TORONTO, February 4, 2010—Members of the Asian Canadian community will attend a sentencing hearing at Newmarket court on Friday, February 5, 2010, for Trevor Middleton of Sutton, Ontario, who was found guilty on serious charges relating to attacks on Asian Canadian anglers.
A Community Victim’s Impact Statement, prepared with the assistance of the Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic (MTSALC), Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter (CCNCTO) and Community Reference Group, will be read into the court record.
“We hope the judge will consider the serious nature and consequences of the crimes committed by Mr. Middleton, and the fact that this case has damaged our community’s sense of safety, security and well being,” says Avvy Go, clinic director at MTCSALC.
“Hate must also be considered as a motivating factor in this case.”
The sentencing hearing begins at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 5, 2010, at Newmarket court, located at 50 Eagle St. West, Newmarket, Ontario.
The Community Victim’s Impact Statement will be made available at the court.
Middleton was found guilty Dec. 15, 2009, by a 12-member jury on four counts of aggravated assault and two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
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Maysie, if X is an appropriate sentence for any given crime, what do we add to X for a hate crime?
Thanks, imho, for the press release for today's sentencing.
G. Muffin that's an excellent question.
First, I'm not a lawyer.
So, that said, from the community perspective, having hate crimes labelled as such is about our needing "proof" that hate crimes actually occur. Ridiculous, but true. However, empirical proof* allows us to do a whole bunch of things. Get funding for projects; provide education to the community; provide a multitude of services to victims, potential victims and the community at large; conduct trainings with staff and community; and get research done to show trends or regions that have greater risk of experiencing hate crimes. With documented proof also comes being able to look at larger and longer-term solutions to preventing or reducing hate crimes.
Fyi, I dislike the terminology "hate crime" since it implies the crime is about "hateful feelings" the perp has for the individual from the targeted community. Rather than reflect larger embedded systemic oppression towards marginalized folks. For example, when Mike Harris slashed social assistance, I would consider that a hate crime.
In terms of appropriate sentences, you're talking to the wrong lefty.
I have no faith in the Canadian (in)justice system and don't see it as a helpful institution. Yes, that last sentence hopes to be nominated for the Understatement of the Day Award.
*There are a whole bunch of reasons why certain data are deemed "acceptable" and other data not. Thread drift. And don't get me frikking started.
Please forgive the link to the National Post.
Crimes prove racial hatred still aliveAsian-Canadians described yesterday how they were affected by a series of well-publicized attacks on fishermen, as Trevor Middleton, 23, faced sentencing for aggravated assault and criminal negligence in the most violent of the cases, near Lake Simcoe on Sept. 16, 2007. The sentencing continues Feb. 12. Avvy Go read a statement on behalf of several Asian-Canadian groups, from which this piece is adapted:
This crime makes us feel we are unwanted in Canada, and it angers us to think that, in this day and age, we must still justify our identity as Canadians.
Even at the best of times, many of us -- especially those who live in smaller communities -often feel alienated and marginalized as we frequently encounter racist taunts which causes us to question our sense of belonging. Despite that fact, most of us do not dwell on the issue of racism in our daily lives.
This crime cruelly reminds us that racial hatred is alive and well in Canada, and that as Asian-Canadians we are still vulnerable in this society; that we still cannot expect to enjoy equal rights and freedoms as others under the law because of our race.
This crime is an extreme manifestation of the all too common sentiment that Asians are not "real" Canadians. We are made to feel like we are intruders and outsiders who can be assaulted at random simply because of what we are, and not what we do.
Link here
Interesting point of view, as always, Maysie. I disagree with you on your Mike Harris example, though. If we're calling that a hate crime, our definition has gotten too broad but I certainly hear you on the potential benefits of such laws.
Perhaps you needed to live in Ontario at the time to realize why Mike Harris was a hate crime walking. The ideology was scary.
RIP Dudley George.
How come all crimes against other humans are not considered hate crimes?
Because they're not all motivated by hate?
This is unbelievable - better read the whole story:
Court in uproar over racism sentence
Fuck.
Double Fuck.
http://www.yorkregion.com/news/article/1219975--family-anxious-for-justice Family anxious for justiceBy Joe Fantauzzi
October 5, 2011
Shayne Berwick is walking now.
But while mobile, the lives of Mr. Berwick, 27, who suffered life-changing injuries in a car crash more than four years ago, and his family remain stalled by a lack of finality in the appeals process that has set free Trevor Middleton, the Georgina man convicted of causing the injuries.
Shayne’s father, Colin, is becoming increasingly angry with a justice system he believes has expected the family to just sit and wait while Mr. Middleton remains on bail, waiting for the process to be resolved.
“What am I supposed to do? My son has been ruined for the rest of his life,” Mr. Berwick said.
Shayne was injured in the so-called nipper tipping case in Georgina in 2007.
Two anglers — Charles Hogan and Ruohang Liu — were pushed into the water near the blue bridge at Mossington Park. Later, Mr. Middleton, used his pickup truck to ram a Honda Civic full of Asian-Canadian anglers and their friends, including Shayne, into a tree in Georgina.
For that, Mr. Middleton was convicted in December 2009 of two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and four counts of aggravated assault and received a two-year sentence. He spent about five weeks in jail before being released pending the results of his appeal.
The Crown has also appealed, arguing Mr. Middleton’s sentence was not long enough.
The family was expecting a hearing last week, but received a phone call telling them not to expect any movement in the case because of an extension request, Mr. Berwick said.
The Berwicks don’t expect a resolution in the case until 2012.
“It’s just frustrating,” Shayne’s stepmother, Terry, said. “I don’t think it’s right. He should be sitting in jail until the appeal comes.”
Mr. Berwick questioned when his son will be seen as the victim.
But more, he just wants an end to the odyssey his family has endured — and continues to endure.
“End it. Closure. Get it over with,” he said. “Whatever (Mr. Middleton) gets, he gets.”
Find reporter Joe Fantauzzi on Twitter @yorkcrime