English

For Immediate Release

June 12, 2000

On June 14th the Supreme Court will hear Robert Latimer's appeal of his conviction of second-degree murder of his 12-year-old daughter Tracy. The Council of Canadians with Disabilities along with five other organizations has jointly received intervenor status in the Court. CCD and its members have followed this case with considerable concern since Tracy's murder in 1993. Robert Latimer has twice been convicted and had his appeals denied by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, this appeal to the Supreme Court is the final step.

by Leslie MacLeod

(2 June 2000) — Mr. Robert Latimer will be back in the Supreme Court of Canada on June 14, 2000. He is appealing his 10 year mandatory sentence for the second degree murder of his 12 year old daughter Tracy. Many Canadians will be watching this appeal, none more anxiously than people who have disabilities.

(26 May 2000) — The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition of Ontario is concerned with the possible influence that the five year report updating Of Life and Death may have on the Latimer case being heard by the Supreme Of Life and Death is scheduled to be released on 6 June 2000.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition of Ontario is calling for the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs to do one of two things:

(19 May 2000 — This article is reprinted from SACL Dialect, Spring 2000.)

By Dick Sobsey, University of Alberta

(12 May 2000) — Research demonstrates that people with disabilities are much more likely to be victims of violence than other people are. One study, for example, published in the American Journal of Forensic Medicine & Pathology found that twenty five per cent of people with cerebral palsy who underwent autopsy had been murdered. Although the sample is small the results are alarming.

Current research at the University of Alberta is examining the relationship between homicide and developmental disabilities.

By Dick Sobsey, University of Alberta

(12 May 2000) — Research demonstrates that people with disabilities are much more likely to be victims of violence than other people are. One study, for example, published in the American Journal of Forensic Medicine & Pathology found that twenty five per cent of people with cerebral palsy who underwent autopsy had been murdered. Although the sample is small the results are alarming.

Current research at the University of Alberta is examining the relationship between homicide and developmental disabilities.

(April 20, 2000)

When was Tracy murdered?

Tracy was murdered on Sunday, 24 October 1993. She was 12 years old at the time of her death.

Was Tracy's disability unique?

No. Her mother testified in court that there are thousands of children in North American, and indeed all over the world, who have Cerebral Palsy like Tracy had.

(14 April 2000) — On 31 March 2000, the Attorney General for the Province of Saskatchewan submitted its factum to the Supreme Court of Canada in the case of Her Majesty the Queen v. Robert William Latimer. In its factum the Crown addresses the facts of the case, points of law that are at issue in the appeal, the arguments being put forward in the case and the order that is being requested from the Supreme Court of Canada.

(7 April 2000) — Because she was murdered by Robert Latimer, Tracy Latimer will never have the opportunity to tell the world what her life was really like. Tracy's communication books, in which her mother and others recorded the events of her life, tell the story of a happy young girl, who participated in the same kinds of activities that other Canadians, both those with and without disabilities, experience. Evidence was introduced at Robert Latimer's trial that demonstrates that Tracy's life was more than just pain and suffering.

• Facts and background
• Issues
• Argument
  • Introduction
  • The circumstance of people with disabilities
  • The significance of Charter rights
  • The position of children
  • The issue of pain
  • Assessing the qu