Jess slams mandatory min gun sentences, calls for retroactive review of convictions

Opposition Spokesperson on Justice Zulieka Jess has called on the Government to urgently amend the Firearms (Prohibition Restriction and Regulation) Act to restore unrestricted sentencing discretion to judges, warning that the legislation has made criminals out of non-violent Jamaicans.

At the same time, the opposition lawmaker also charged that Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake was building a “wall of institutional arrogance”, when, in the wake of public outcry over mounting police killings, he reportedly told his rank-and-file officers “not to become paralysed by criticism”.

In pushing for an amendment to the Firearms (Prohibition Restriction and Regulation) Act, Jess said the Government should make it retroactive, so that those currently suffering as a result of this legislative failure could have their sentences reviewed.

Referencing the recent conviction of Kingston music producer Ewayne Pryce, who was slapped with a mandatory minimum 15-year sentence for eight imitation firearms reportedly used as props in music videos, Jess quipped, “Not a single bullet could ever leave those plastic barrels.”

She argued that the State used “a 15-year sledgehammer to crush a creative professional who posed no threat to public safety, effectively letting Parliament sentence the man, instead of an independent judge”.

With some 15 years practising at the Bar as an attorney, Jess noted that the primary duty of Parliament was to pass laws, not absurdity.

She referenced a prominent defence attorney who recently lamented the sheer absurdity of the legislative regime by revealing that the State actually wasted time and precious resources conducting ballistic tests on a cardboard cutout of a gun.

“Cardboard! Under this regime, a cardboard cutout is being taken to a government laboratory to test if it can fire a bullet. Government forensic experts are ordered to perform ballistics on cardboard!” she declared, while holding aloft a piece of cardboard in Parliament.

Jess made it clear that she would be the first to join any sensible effort to be tough on crime, as it was a monster that must not only be tamed, but must be eliminated.

The lawmaker noted that she would forever defend the police’s right to defend themselves when faced with devastating force from criminals who were determined to wage war on the society.

However, the opposition legislator contended that the engines of justice were rattling across Jamaica, sparked by an alarming rise in police fatal killings.

Highlighting data from the Independent Commission of Investigations that some 133 people have already been shot and killed by members of the security forces since the start of this year, Jess said the engine of justice was rattling.

Jess said this rattling required the country to confront what she described as the dangerous rhetoric coming from the very top of the justice system.

Instead of demanding accountability, Jess said Justice Minister Delroy Chuck recently responded to these tragedies by declaring that the law allowed the police to use "reasonable force", including deadly force, to stop a fleeing suspect.

“To tell a grieving, terrified nation that running away gives the State a legal right to execute you on the streets is a grave mistake. The engines of justice demand protection of the right to due process, a fair trial, and the presumption of innocence,” she declared, adding that “running away must never become an automatic death sentence, nor can we allow the ministry to rewrite the law to justify street-side executions”.

According to Jess, equally troubling was the police commissioner’s “dismissive response, defending police failures as being viewed through the lens of ‘hindsight’”.

When lives are lost, evaluating police actions is not an exercise in hindsight, Jess reasoned, noting that it was a demand for foresight, training, the use of body-worn cameras, and a demand for basic human rights.

“When the police commissioner, in the wake of public outcry, tells his rank-and-file officers ‘not to become paralysed by criticism’, he is building a wall of institutional arrogance. He is telling his men that they are above the law, above the people, and above accountability,” she said.

editorial@gleanerjm.com