Judge strikes mandatory minimum sentence in drug case involving Indigenous woman
An Ontario judge has struck down a mandatory minimum sentence for a drug smuggling offence, ruling that two years in prison would be a “grossly disproportionate” punishment for an Indigenous single mother who ran away from home at age 13.
Advocates welcoming the ruling say the case highlights the need to strike down dozens of mandatory minimums that remain in place despite contradicting Supreme Court guidelines for sentencing Indigenous offenders.
Cheyenne Sharma, a 23-year-old single mother living in poverty at the time of her crime, was sentenced to 17 months in jail after pleading guilty to bringing under two kilograms of cocaine into Canada from Surinam in the lining of her suitcase.
The mandatory minimum penalty of two years in prison would have violated Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Justice Casey Hill determined.