For well over a century Canadians of African lineage have fought before the courts for the right to be treated fairly. In most cases judges have rewarded this struggle against odious prejudice.
However Canada's judicial history is stained with a couple of distressingly racist decisions.
One was the Christie case in which it was established that the Forum tavern had the right to keep a man out on the basis of his ethnicity.
Another was the Gosset case in which a cop inexplicably shot Anthony Griffin dead when he tried to run from custody in NDG. The Supremes suggested that the defendant's mother be compensated $25,000 for the loss of a son. That decision is still spoken of by headshaking university professors.
But a decision by Judge Clement Gascon from May 11, 2010 (not reported elsewhere to my knowledge) appears to attempt to reverse a little bit of those bad precedents.
November 2003 Tommy Kane, a onetime NFL football player and protege of the controversial Bobby White, murdered his wife, Tammy Shaikh the mother of his three sons aged 5, 6 and 9 and one daughter daughter, aged three. He committed this horrific crime at her home with a knife.
He was angry at his estranged wife because she wanted to get him to attend treatment for cocaine addiction.
The victim's sister Ava Shaikh relocated from the USA and took over the job of raising the kids. She was given $171,000 from the sale of a house that was once owned by Kane.
This spring, in a decision that made specific mention of the unfortunate Gosset payment recommendation, the judge ordered Kane, who remains behind bars serving an 18 year prison sentence, to give each of his children a far more generous $125,000. He also has to give Ava Shaikh $90,000.
I don't follow your logic in saying that the ruling in the Kane/Shaikh case has a racial component or has anything to do with racist decisions made in the past.
ReplyDeleteThe decision mentions the Gosset decision in a way that suggests it seeks to reverse that precedent, which is known to be a shockingly racist decision.
ReplyDeleteIn that case judges assumed that Anthony Griffin was a young black criminal who never would have been able to give a dime to his mother through any wealth he accrued in his life so therefore she only really deserved a pittance from the murder by police of her son. It was a telling commentary on the way the judiciary sees the value of lives of black people in a world where they must fight against the relentless hammer of white prejudice. The Gosset case still shocks many people today when they hear about it, considering it wasn't all that long ago.
It's nice to see some value finally put on the loss of a relative, as they're usually pretty stingy with rewarding money for the loss of a family member.
OK, but I would've thought the fact that Kane was a professional athlete, and that what he did kind of mirrored a somewhat similar incident involving another much more famous athlete, was a more significant part of the story than race. But I see what you mean.
ReplyDeleteOne strange thing - the courts were unable to ascertain whether Kane receives a pension from the NFL and or CFL, as he played in both leagues.
ReplyDeleteSeems like they'd be able to find this out with a simple phone call.