R v Morrisey CLN4U Mrs. Axelrod Anonymous Society today is a very dangerous place to live in. Crime is happening as this very moment, performed by desperate people who are in desperate situations or out of pure greed. All around the world people are struck by paranoia, because they fear to become a victim of one of this outbreak of crime. How do we stop these criminals? How do we make our society into a safer place? Our society puts criminals in their place by punishing them, to attempt to deter them from further crimes and to set an example of the future law breakers, and to let them see what they face upon committing a crime. Once in custody and after a fair trial, we sentence them to what we feel is appropriate for the crime they committed. But when does a fair sentence cross the line into a cruel and/or unusual punishment? In the case R v Morrisey, the accused was found guilty of criminal negligence causing death with the use of the firearm. With the minimum sentence of four years in a federal penitentiary set out by s.220 of the criminal code (R.Morrisey, pp 15), does that violate s.12 of the charter which states that no one is to be subject to cruel or unusual punishment? These mandatory sentences are to deter other people from recklessly using firearms and should not be considered as cruel or unusual punishment. Though they do not have the Mens Rea of the offense, they are still criminally responsible for their negligence. In R v Morrisey, the accused had been drinking and taking prescription drugs with his friend his friend’s father at a campsite. After driving his friend’s father home, he returned to the campsite where they were initially drinking. His friend has fallen asleep on the top bunk of a bunk bed, and with the intention of jumping on the bed (with a rifle in hand) to shake his friend, he lost his footing, the gun discharged and he killed his friend with a shot to the head. A mandatory sentence of four years inside the criminal code for a...