A Mi'kmaq man's five-year sentence for brutally beating his girlfriend was considered two years too long by the Court of Appeal

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Nova Scotia shouldn’t be a friendly place for domestic abusers. But it is, thanks to a judiciary that continuously puts rehabilitation attempts before community safety.

A man named Arthur Cope is a recent beneficiary of this. In the midst of serving a five-year jail sentence for beating his girlfriend to the point of fracturing her eye socket in 2021, Cope’s lawyers successfully convinced a majority of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to shave two years off. He will soon be on probation. The reasons? A confidential Indigenous sentencing circle, the impact of colonialism on Cope’s Mi’kmaq identity and his drug-addicted state.

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The original sentence of five years was quite reasonable, all considering. Cope has a history of violence and a criminal record dating back to 2001. Prior to assaulting his girlfriend, he’d been convicted for weapons offences and other instances of violence. He also had a record of breaching court orders (including no-contact orders concerning the girlfriend he was charged with beating).

A significant factor in all this was the man’s drug use: he started at age 10 and behaves like it — poor performance in school, extensive criminal activity as an adult and now a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder. First prescribed psychiatric medication in 2007, treatments over the years haven’t produced long-term results because they require diligent adherence and abstention from hard drugs.

There are two approaches to sentencing a person like this. One prioritizes the........

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