The federal government won't challenge a court ruling ordering it to try to win clemency for a Canadian on death row in Montana.
Last month, a Federal Court judge ordered the government to resume efforts to win clemency for Ronald Smith.
The man from Red Deer, Alta., has been on death row in Montana for more than 25 years, convicted of killing 2 people in 1982.
Justice Robert Barnes ruled the government can't arbitrarily end a decades-old policy of routinely seeking clemency in such cases and replace it with a case-by-case review.
An email from Foreign Affairs says it will comply with the ruling and won't appeal it, adding Smith will continue to get consular assistance.
Smith was convicted in 1983 of murdering two cousins, Harvey Madman Jr. and Thomas Running Rabbit, during an drug-and-alcohol-fuelled rampage the year before.
At first, he refused a plea deal that would have given him a life sentence. 3 weeks later, he pleaded guilty and asked for a death sentence, a request that was granted.
Since then, he's ridden a roller-coaster of appeals won and lost, death sentences overturned and re-imposed.
His hope lies with a commutation from Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat who supports capital punishment. Schweitzer is the 5th governor to handle the Smith file.
For 20 years, Canadian Liberal governments supported clemency efforts for Smith, but that evaporated when the Conservatives took office.
The Tories said they would no longer seek clemency for Canadians tried and sentenced to death in democratic countries which follow the rule of law.
They also pointed to Smith as a multiple murder undeserving of help.
Barnes had said the government's decision was made in breach of the duty of procedural fairness.
The judge also chided the government over comments about Smith being a multiple murderer and implying "Mr. Smith was personally undeserving of further support."
He said it's one thing for a government to change policy.
"It is another thing altogether to make specific unfavourable comments about an individual's case for relief which might jeopardize his legal status."
The Liberals and the NDP welcomed Barnes' ruling, calling it a rebuke for an ideologically driven government.
Liberal Dominic LeBlanc said the government shouldn't be deciding which cases to support and which to ignore, while NDP Leader Jack Layton said Canada has long had a tradition of fighting the death penalty.
Source: The Star, April 6, 2009
Last month, a Federal Court judge ordered the government to resume efforts to win clemency for Ronald Smith.
The man from Red Deer, Alta., has been on death row in Montana for more than 25 years, convicted of killing 2 people in 1982.
Justice Robert Barnes ruled the government can't arbitrarily end a decades-old policy of routinely seeking clemency in such cases and replace it with a case-by-case review.
An email from Foreign Affairs says it will comply with the ruling and won't appeal it, adding Smith will continue to get consular assistance.
Smith was convicted in 1983 of murdering two cousins, Harvey Madman Jr. and Thomas Running Rabbit, during an drug-and-alcohol-fuelled rampage the year before.
At first, he refused a plea deal that would have given him a life sentence. 3 weeks later, he pleaded guilty and asked for a death sentence, a request that was granted.
Since then, he's ridden a roller-coaster of appeals won and lost, death sentences overturned and re-imposed.
His hope lies with a commutation from Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat who supports capital punishment. Schweitzer is the 5th governor to handle the Smith file.
For 20 years, Canadian Liberal governments supported clemency efforts for Smith, but that evaporated when the Conservatives took office.
The Tories said they would no longer seek clemency for Canadians tried and sentenced to death in democratic countries which follow the rule of law.
They also pointed to Smith as a multiple murder undeserving of help.
Barnes had said the government's decision was made in breach of the duty of procedural fairness.
The judge also chided the government over comments about Smith being a multiple murderer and implying "Mr. Smith was personally undeserving of further support."
He said it's one thing for a government to change policy.
"It is another thing altogether to make specific unfavourable comments about an individual's case for relief which might jeopardize his legal status."
The Liberals and the NDP welcomed Barnes' ruling, calling it a rebuke for an ideologically driven government.
Liberal Dominic LeBlanc said the government shouldn't be deciding which cases to support and which to ignore, while NDP Leader Jack Layton said Canada has long had a tradition of fighting the death penalty.
Source: The Star, April 6, 2009
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