Keeping Up Is Hard to Do:
A Trial Judge’s Reading Blog

SENTENCING-THE PRINCIPLE OF RESTRAINT

R. v. Francis, 2022 ONCA 729, October 25, 2022, at paragraph 80:

This court has repeatedly emphasized the critical role that the principle of restraint plays when sentencing a youthful, first-time offender: see e.g., R. v. Borde (2003), 63 O.R. (3d) 417 (C.A.), at para. 36; R. v. Disher, 2020 ONCA 710, 153 O.R. (3d) 88, at para. 59; R. v. Desir, 2021 ONCA 486, at para. 31. While the objectives of denunciation and deterrence must be given adequate weight, they should rarely be the sole determinants of the length of a first penitentiary sentence: Borde, at para. 36. Where an offender is young and has never served a period of incarceration, the shortest sentence possible ought to be imposed: Borde, at para. 36; Desir, at para. 31; Disher, at para. 59.