{"id":2915,"date":"2012-01-14T02:58:27","date_gmt":"2012-01-14T08:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/waronsociety.noblogs.org\/?p=2915"},"modified":"2013-02-03T15:59:14","modified_gmt":"2013-02-03T21:59:14","slug":"toronto-on-mandy-hiscocks-sentenced-to-16-months-mandys-statement-to-the-courts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waronsociety.noblogs.org\/?p=2915","title":{"rendered":"Toronto, ON: Mandy Hiscocks sentenced to 16 months; Mandy’s statement to the courts"},"content":{"rendered":"

from guelphabc<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

On Friday <\/strong>(January) the 13th 2012, Mandy Hiscocks<\/strong><\/em> was sentenced to 20-24 month for 1 count of Counseling to Commit Mischief and Counseling to Obstruct Police. With 31 days in pretrial custody and harsh bail conditions taken into account, Mandy\u2019s remaining time to serve is 16 months.<\/p>\n

With the courthouse filled with supporters, more than could even fit in the courtroom, Mandy delivered an awesome speech chastising the justice system and enlightening the judge as to why exactly, her desires have not been deterred by her sentence.<\/p>\n

The Judge took it upon himself to try and engage her on many of the points she brought up, defending the state and capital, and even at one point announcing that he is also apart of the \u201c99%\u201d. Warm cheers and chants from supporters\u00a0for Mandy\u2019s words brought threats of contempt charges and removing all her supporters from the courtroom.<\/p>\n

if you would like to stay up to date on Mandy\u2019s incarceration, check out the support blog set up for her, or check back in with Guelph ABC for relevant updates. Mandy\u2019s Blog: http:\/\/boredbutnotbroken.tao.ca\/<\/a><\/p>\n

If you want to write Mandy, you can send your letters, fan mail and Battle Star Galactica fan fiction to:<\/p>\n

\n
Amanda Hiscocks<\/strong><\/address>\n
c\/o Vanier Centre for Women<\/em>
\n 665 Martin Street<\/em>
\n Milton, Ontario L9T 5E6<\/em>
\nCanada<\/em><\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

-Guelph Anarchist Black Cross (GAyBC)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Mandy\u2019s Statement to the Courts<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s not every day you get the opportunity to speak directly to a judge, and I have a lot to say. This is my first opportunity to speak since this entire process started last June so I hope you\u2019ll hear me out until the end.<\/p>\n

I plan to take about ten to fiteen minutes at most.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know you as a person or as a judge, so my comments are directed at the legal system in general.<\/p>\n

I want to address some of the things you said on this matter in earlier sentencing hearings, particularly your references to the KKK.<\/p>\n

When you sentenced Peter, Adam, Erik and Leah to jail, you stated that this is not political, it is about our tactics. You mentioned the KKK, and compared their actions to those of the non-violent civil disobedience protesters of the 60s. I agree with you that the tactics used by the KKK are reprehensible. I disagree with you that that kind of violence against people is anything remotely like the property damage that occurred on the streets of Toronto during the G20 summit.<\/p>\n

Regardless, by focusing on the KKK\u2019s tactics and not their politics you\u2019ve missed the point entirely. The problem with the KKK isn\u2019t only their tactics. It\u2019s the fact that they\u2019re a white supremacist group.<\/p>\n

White supremacy is defined as \u201can historically based, institutionally perpetuated system of exploitation and oppression of continents, nations and peoples of color by white peoples and nations; for the purpose of establishing, maintaining and defending a system of wealth, power and privilege.\u201d<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think you disagree with me that there is a system of wealth, power and privilege in this country. I benefit from this system every day, and so do you. We benefit on the backs of others, most of whom are people of colour.<\/p>\n

Systemic oppression is widespread in the legal system. Racial profiling affects who gets arrested in the first place, who gets charged and who gets sent home, whose charges the Crown decides to proceed with and whose they drop, who gets bail and who doesn\u2019t. It\u2019s not a secret that if you\u2019re in custody during your trial, your chances of conviction are higher. And even if you do get out on bail, who gets compliance checks and who doesn\u2019t means some people end up back in jail on a breach while others don\u2019t. Who in this is more likely to plead guilty right away because they don\u2019t have the time, tools or money to defend themselves?<\/p>\n

The fact is that lawyers are expensive and your chance of conviction depends on how much time your lawyer is willing to put into your case. Most judges are white, and the jury selection process means that if you\u2019re poor you\u2019ll almost certainly not end up with a jury of your peers. And finally, sentencing relies on privilege (your education level, your chance of employment, your income, prior run-ins with the law, and so on.)<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have proper statistics for all of the above, and anyway I know you know this stuff. I just want you to be aware that I know it too, and so do most of the people in this room today and in the video room.<\/p>\n

However, here are some statistics that I do have: According to the federal correctional investigator, over the past decade there has been a 52 per cent leap in the proportion of black offenders in federal incarceration. Black people make up roughly 2.5 per cent of Canada\u2019s population but 9.12 per cent of federal prisoners. In Ontario, 20 per cent of the federal prison population is black. Keeping in mind that people of colour have been hardest hit by the economic downturn and the conservative policies of our current government, and keeping in mind all the ways in which the legal system disadvantages people of colour, is it really any wonder?<\/p>\n

My point is that a few broken windows and burned police cars at a protest will not lead us down the path of the KKK. The KKK targeted black people with overt violence and terror, and this system targets them with institutionalized racism, which is just a more subtle form of violence. In fact this legal system is doing the work of the KKK more than any anti-G20 protester ever could. It\u2019s very telling that the KKK was comprised in large part of wealthy businessmen and lawmakers \u2013 the kinds of people our society and our legal system hold up as the best of the best. Perhaps this is why in 1987 Weatherman Linda Evans was sentenced to 40 years for using false ID to get a firearm and harbouring a fugitive, despite the average sentence for that being 2 years. In the same year, a KKK leader named Don Black, who was planning an invasion of Dominica with a boatload of explosives and automatic weapons, was sentenced to 8 years, 5 of which were suspended, so that he ended up serving 3.<\/p>\n

White supremacy is wrong, it\u2019s violent and dangerous, whether it\u2019s at the hands of a fringe group like the KKK or an accepted institution like the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n

**********<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not always what the \u201cjustice\u201d system does that causes the problems, sometimes it\u2019s what it doesn\u2019t do. The courts simply do not consider systemic oppression and inequality.<\/p>\n

In a book called The Red Lily, Anatole France stated that \u201cThe law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.\u201d The book was written in 1894 in France, but that statement still applies here, today.<\/p>\n

A crime is a crime, you say, regardless of who committed it, and what leads people to crime doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n

In 1999 the Supreme Court of Canada tried to address systemic injustice in their ruling on Regina vs Gladue. They stated that we need to acknowledge the circumstances of Indigenous people, the reasons they may wind up in the justice system, and the racist treatment and attitudes they encounter there. They recommended alternatives to prison sentences that mesh more with Indigenous cultures.<\/p>\n

According to people who work in the field, many Indigenous accused still don\u2019t know about Gladue reports or how to get them, and they aren\u2019t always informed by their lawyers. Judges continue to resist the sentencing principles outlined at the conclusion of the Gladue case.<\/p>\n

According to Statistics Canada, in 2008\/2009, 10 years after the ruling, Aboriginal women represented 28% of all women remanded and 37% of women admitted to sentenced custody. Today Aboriginal women, though less than two per cent of the Canadian population, make up 34 per cent of female federal inmates.<\/p>\n

My point being, I don\u2019t have the power to change what happens in this legal system. I\u2019m trying to indicate why I don\u2019t respect this legal system.<\/p>\n

**********<\/p>\n

The crown wants this sentence to be a deterrent. It won\u2019t be. Please take a second to have a good look around the room. When i get taken out of here do you think you\u2019ll have increased anyone\u2019s faith in the system?<\/p>\n

I am certainly not deterred, I\u2019m just angry.<\/p>\n

No matter what my sentence is today, it won\u2019t be about justice. Your system is not about justice. If it was, don\u2019t you think we would have come to you when the G20 decided to set foot here to pursue their obviously unjust austerity agenda? Don\u2019t you think we would have asked for your help when the police started to put up their fences and cages, and randomly arrest whoever they felt like so they could systematically abuse them in the detention centre?<\/p>\n

If this system was about righting wrongs, don\u2019t you think we would come to you to hold the rich to account for their abuses against the poor, immigration officials to account for their abuses against people without status, and settlers to account for our abuses against Indigenous people?<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t and don\u2019t come to you. We won\u2019t ever come to you.<\/p>\n

A court of real justice would defend people against aggressors. In this society, the privileged are the aggressors, but time after time you choose to protect their privilege and their property against people who are struggling to survive. You\u2019re doing it wrong. Let\u2019s not debate. The obvious answer to the violence and the chaos is the cops brought that. I\u2019m going to try and finish.<\/p>\n

This legal system that we have here is not equal, it\u2019s not fair and its not just. And a lot of people out there believe that it is. What I would like to impart to you is that I don\u2019t buy it and the statistics dont support it.<\/p>\n

You speak of dignity, that everyone should be treated with dignity. I agree with you. But you can\u2019t treat someone with dignity, or expect to be treated with dignity in return, while one person is up high and the other person is down low, while your boot is on their neck.<\/p>\n

This is why we, myself and the people in the other room, don\u2019t have decorum in this system.<\/p>\n

Throughout this farcical legal process that\u2019s coming to an end today the accused have been told that our actions were an attack on the rule of law, which is at the heart of our society. Well good. Our society is racist and colonial, its rooted in wealth and power, and so is the rule of law that upholds it.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m going to leave this court room today, to quote Chilean anarchist Diego Rios<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\u201cI am carrying all my hatred and contempt for power, its laws, its authority, its society, and I have no room for guilt or fear of punishment.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Mandy Hiscocks<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

from guelphabc: On Friday (January) the 13th 2012, Mandy Hiscocks was sentenced to 20-24 month for 1 count of Counseling to Commit Mischief and Counseling to Obstruct Police. With 31 days in pretrial custody and harsh bail conditions taken into … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2532,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[882],"tags":[409,61,159,228,99],"class_list":["post-2915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-updates","tag-amanda-hiscocks","tag-canada","tag-diego-rios","tag-g20","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/waronsociety.noblogs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/waronsociety.noblogs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/waronsociety.noblogs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waronsociety.noblogs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2532"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waronsociety.noblogs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2915"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/waronsociety.noblogs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2926,"href":"https:\/\/waronsociety.noblogs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2915\/revisions\/2926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/waronsociety.noblogs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waronsociety.noblogs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waronsociety.noblogs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}