Morning Bites: 5 things to know for Thursday; Homeschooling parents; R Kelly; Clovis Toon; Breaking News and more

Morning Bites: 5 things to know for Thursday, February 23, 2023 Select Committee to decide whether to exempt homeschooling parents The Joint Select Committee of the Parliament examining the Jamaica Teaching Council Bill 2022 could indicate today whether [homeschooling parents will be exempted from the requirement to seek authorisation to teach at home](. The committee will hold a hybrid meeting beginning at 10:00 am. In a submission to the committee months ago, parents who homeschool their children mounted strong arguments for exemption from the Bill when teaching their own children. "The Bill is about the practice of a teacher. Wherever the teacher practises, it has implications for the profession. It doesn't matter if it is in a public school, a private school, or homeschool, once the person is practising as a teacher then that person is governed by the profession — it's a practice, it's not the programme," head of the JTC, Dr Winsome Gordon stated at last meeting of the committee on February 15. Under the proposed legislation, people who teach in an approved home education programme, including parents who teach their own child — and no other child — must apply to the JTC for authorisation to teach. Member of Parliament for St Catherine South Eastern, Robert Miller, registered his disagreement with exempting homeschoolers from the Bill. "I'm not against homeschooling but I'm of the belief that a trained teacher should be teaching those children, and someone who is registered as well," said Miller. Last July the Jamaica Association of Homeschoolers said the functions and approach of homeschool parents and guardians could not be compared to that of a trained teacher in a standard educational setting. Convicted murderers will soon face up to 50 years behind bars - Chuck The reputational damage to brand Jamaica as a result of the [high murder rate]( and the devastation caused to families on a regular basis after their loved ones have been killed, are the driving forces behind the Government’s push to amend key pieces of legislation to ensure that those found guilty of the crime spend decades behind bars. To demonstrate its commitment to rein in the country’s murder problem, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck on Tuesday tabled the Offences Against The Person (Amendment) Bill and the Criminal Justice (Administration) (Amendment) Bill in the House of Representatives. When the relevant sections are amended, those convicted could find themselves locked away for as long as 50 years. The justice minister outlined that the increased mandatory minimum sentences will provide greater alignment between the sentencing regimes governing serious crimes and the public’s expectations of the justice system. “The possibility of the imposition of a more punitive sentence will go a long way in preserving the credibility of Jamaica’s Justice system in the eyes of individuals traumatised by the untimely death of their loved ones,” he argued. Chuck noted that Jamaica has the highest homicide rate among 22 Latin American and Caribbean countries in the region of 45 per 100,000. “Our extreme reality necessitates that the legislative framework governing mandatory minimum sentences for murder, surpass the average threshold used in other jurisdictions. These legislative amendments will aid in the fight against the country’s soaring crime rate by ensuring that the applicable penalty matches the severity of the crime,” he said. The proposed amendments to the Offences Against The Person Act will: - increase the mandatory minimum sentence for imprisonment, under Section 3(1)(b) from 15 years to 45 years; -increase the mandatory minimum sentence to be served before being eligible for parole, where the offence is capital murder, from 20 years to 50 years under (3(1C)(a) which deals with eligibility for parole. -increase the mandatory minimum sentence to be served before being eligible for parole, where the sentence is imprisonment for life, from 15 to 40 years; under section 3(1C)(b)(I); and -Increase the mandatory minimum sentence to be served before being eligible for parole, where a sentence of a term of years is given, from ten years to 35 years under 3(1C)(b)(ii). Amendments to the Criminal Justice (Administration) Act will change section 42(F) by increasing the term of years to be deemed as “life imprisonment” from 30 years to 50 years where the offence committed is murder. “The starting point for calculating the reduction in the sentence is usually life imprisonment and the aim of this proposed amendment is to maintain an incentive scheme for defendants to plead guilty while ensuring that the reduced sentence is not inordinately low having regard to the serious nature of the offence,” Chuck explained. Portmore parish status main reason to postpone local polls -MP Member of Parliament for St Catherine South Eastern, the Jamaica Labour Party’s Robert Miller, has posited that the [postponement of the Local Government Elections]( for a third straight time is necessary to allow the issues preventing Portmore from becoming [Jamaica’s 15th parish]( to be sorted out. Ongoing consultations to get Portmore to parish status was one reason cited by Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie when he announced that the Government would be postponing the elections last held in November 2016, until February 28, 2024. Amidst howls of protests from the parliamentary Opposition, Miller argued that “the reasons (for the postponement) are clearly outlined by my colleague Minister (McKenzie), which I fully and unequivocally endorse”. According to Miller, there has been tremendous consultations and work done but work is still being undertaken to establish Portmore as Jamaica´s 15th parish. “There is much anticipation that this process should be completed before the next Local Government Elections are announced,” he said. He pointed out that there are anomalies that need to be addressed if Portmore residents are to fully benefit from this exercise. “For instance, a part of Greater Portmore North can vote for their councillor but are not able to exercise their franchise to vote for a mayoral candidate. This cannot be right or reasonable as these residents would have contributed to the social and economic activities of the City Municipality,” he said. Additionally, Miller stated that Portmore’s elected mayor has no real power to enact change. “It’s really the 12 elected councillors who have the power for change,” he said. And, he pointed out that “even the lands that should have been owned by the Portmore City Municipality is being held in trust at the St Catherine Municipal Corporation. “Even the 12 councillors for Portmore must attend meetings at the St Catherine Municipal Corporation, if they fail to do so, they will not be paid,” Miller pointed out. Advertisement R Kelly to learn if he effectively gets ‘life’ sentence A federal judge will sentence R Kelly for his Chicago convictions of child pornography and enticement of minors for sex on Thursday, when the 56-year-old singer [will learn if he must spend the rest of his life behind bar]( or if he will have some hope of getting out alive. The central question for the judge at the hearing in Kelly’s hometown of Chicago is whether to heed prosecutors’ request to order that Kelly serve a new sentence only after he completes his 30-year term imposed last year in New York for racketeering and sex trafficking. A sentence that Kelly must serve consecutively would be tantamount to a life sentence. Prosecutors acknowledge that a lengthy term served after the New York sentence would practically erase any chance of Kelly ever leaving prison alive. They say the Grammy Award-winner’s crimes against children and his lack of remorse justified that. They recommend a 25-year sentence served consecutively. That would make him eligible for release in 2066, a year shy of his 100th birthday. The defense wants a sentence of around 10 years, served simultaneously. If the judge does let Kelly serve his new sentence simultaneously with the New York sentence, he will serve no more than the 30 years and should be eligible for release at around age 80 — providing him some hope of one day resuming life outside prison. Ukraine war: UN chief condemns invasion ahead of anniversary UN head António Guterres has[condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine]( as an "affront" to the world's collective conscience at a meeting of the General Assembly nearly one year on. The meeting was debating a motion backed by Ukraine and its allies demanding Russia pull out immediately and unconditionally. Ukraine hopes that by supporting the motion countries will show solidarity. The Kremlin has accused the West of wanting to defeat Russia at any cost. Vasily Nebenzya, the Kremlin's ambassador to the UN, said the US and its allies were prepared to plunge the entire world into war. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent up to 200,000 soldiers into Ukraine on 24 February 2022 in the biggest European invasion since the end of World War Two. The devastating war that ensued has left at least 7,199 civilians dead and thousands of others injured, according to a UN estimate, while Russia and Ukraine have each seen at least 100,000 of their soldiers killed or injured, according to the US military. More than 13 million people were made refugees abroad or displaced inside Ukraine. Putin's claim that his operation was needed to "demilitarise and denazify" Ukraine, a country with historic ties to Russia, was dismissed by Ukraine and its allies as a ruse for an unprovoked attack. "That invasion is an affront to our collective conscience," Guterres told the General Assembly. "It is a violation of the United Nations Charter and international law." The possible consequences of a "spiralling conflict" were, he said, a "clear and present danger". Guterres said the war was "fanning regional instability and fuelling global tensions and divisions, while diverting attention and resources from other crises and pressing global issues". There had, he said, been "implicit threats to use nuclear weapons". "It is high time to step back from the brink," he said. ICYMI: WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING Man held in stabbing death of 'Haitian' in Ocho Rios The St Ann police have [accosted a man accused of fatally stabbing another man]( in Ocho Rios, St Ann on Wednesday afternoon. PIOJ wants productivity plans for ageing population Director general of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) Dr Wayne Henry is [advising that specific policy measures be put in place]( to ensure Jamaica's continued growth and productivity over the next three decades as the country's population ages. Trinidad rattled by earthquake on consecutive days An [earthquake with a magnitude of 4.2]( rattled several parts of Trinidad on Wednesday, but there were no immediate reports of injury or destruction. CLOVIS TOON TODAY IN HISTORY Ahmaud Arbery killed On this day in 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, was fatally shot on a residential Georgia street; a white father and son had armed themselves and pursued him after seeing him running through their neighborhood. (Greg and Travis McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan were convicted of murder, aggravated assault and other charges and were sentenced to life in prison.) For more stories, visit our website at www.jamaicaobserver.com or [sign up for our e-paper](. [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Website]( Copyright © 2023 Jamaica Observer, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 40 - 42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue Kingston 5 Want to change how you receive these emails? 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