judge has struck down a mandatory minimum sentence, calling it a "grossly disproportionate" punishment for a mentally disabled man convicted of a child sex crime. Dylan William Scofield, 26, of Vernon, B.C., pleaded guilty in 2015 to two counts of sexual interference, a crime that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of one year behind bars. Mandatory minimums challengedThe judge's decision in Scofield's case should not come as a surprise, according to Yvon Dandurand, a criminology professor at the University of the Fraser Valley. The Supreme Court of Canada has overturned mandatory minimums on some drug trafficking and firearms offences, and similar decisions have been made by lower courts. That includes wiping out some or all of the mandatory minimums, reducing the sentence lengths or creating exemptions in the law that would allow judges to exercise their discretion in exceptional cases.

Source: CBC News March 21, 2018 11:00 UTC