"...The last and most vigorous defender of the rule of law was overturned and effectively silenced" writes Author Christie Blatchford in her most recent book, HELPLESS Caledonia's Nightmare of Fear And Anarchy, and How The Law Failed All of Us. Blatchford praises Judge Marshall for trying to uphold the law during the Douglas Creek Estates occupation. After numerous attempts to restore law and order, Judge Marshall was found in an appeal court to have been "within his discretion to have kept calling the parties back to his court for updates, and to have asked the OPP and the government to report publicly on the exercise of their respective operational and prosecutorial authority. But, the judges said, Marshall had gone "further than he should have" in reviewing both OPP and government conduct."
Blatchford quotes Dr. Marshall's son, Albert, who is also a lawyer, "When this matter in Caledonia came before him, he had a choice. He could take the easy road and [accede] to the Crown's requests and ignore the rights of a few. If he had done this, no one would have faulted him....Instead, he chose to stand up for what he believed was right. When he did this, he was very much alone."
To read about the Haldimand County that the late Ontario Superior Court Judge David Marshall lived in and loved, pick up Dr. Marshall's History of Haldimand County, available at The Neat Little Bookshop in Cayuga.
A comprehensive and concise history of the area surrounding the Lower Grand River that empties into Lake Erie.
