It was the type of small-town crime that gets a brief write-up in the local newspaper’s police blotter and is easily forgotten: man armed with a spray can robs liquor store.
But a recent Alberta judge’s sentencing decision revealed the intricate layers he had to consider in the robbery’s aftermath: the store clerk who no longer felt safe; the store owner who lost her peace of mind but who asked the court “how can I help” prevent such incidents from happening again?; and the offender, a young Cree man who was on probation at the time but who showed remorse even during the commission of the crime — by asking his victim for a hug.
What is the appropriate sentence: punishment or rehabilitation?
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