Reading Time: 3 minutes How the Ontario Court of Appeal’s recent decision affects driveway stops by police. A lot of accused individuals call lawyers, outraged, saying they were driving perfectly yet a cop pulled them over. But what many do not know until a lawyer breaks the news to them is this: the Ontario Highway Traffic Act allows officers […]
CRIMINAL | Evidence That Rape Myths Still Prevalent in Court in 2021
Reading Time: 4 minutes Despite a social-conscious awakening, one trial proves archaic rape myths still exist. A much-needed push against old-think myths and stereotypes of sexual assault victims led to a revamp of the Criminal Code. The changes updated when and how prior sexual activity of a complainant can be used in court. It took many generations and a […]
CRIMINAL | The State is in Your Home: Courts punish poor parenting
Reading Time: 4 minutes In the middle of a pandemic, are our children really safe? Two Ontario courts recently punished poor parenting: the Ontario Superior Court in R v CO et al and the Ontario Court of Appeal in R v Lis. Both of these decisions were released during the pandemic and after the Crown had appealed the prior […]
Comparing Canada’s Corrections to Europe, the United States and Aboriginal Communities
Reading Time: 6 minutes How a society responds to and deals with its members who break or fail to follow its most basic rules is often rooted in its history and cultural values. Canada’s background is intimately tied to British traditions and practices in light of our history as a colony from the 1760’s up to the 20th century. […]
The Many Faces of ‘Corrections’: A call for universal reform
Reading Time: 6 minutes It is perhaps time (if not long overdue) to re-evaluate what we mean by justice and corrections. In my study of our court and prison methods, I found… a great wastage of human lives – a failure to reclaim and utilize them. E.N. Foss, 1914 Perhaps the least understood part of our criminal justice system […]
How Inmates in Canadian Prisons Suffer
Reading Time: 8 minutes Mental health crises for which there are few resources COVID-19 lockdowns Overuse of solitary confinement A racialized justice system that criminalizes Indigenous Peoples and Black Canadians A lack of preparation for re-entry into society These are the tip-of-the-iceberg issues faced by inmates in Canada’s federal and provincial prisons. And according to advocates for better inmate […]
Transgender Inmates in Canada
Reading Time: 6 minutes How do federal, provincial and territorial laws or policies protect transgender inmates? Individuals may identify with a gender that goes along with their sex given at birth, they may identify with a gender that is different from their sex given at birth, or they may identify with a non-traditional notion of gender. “Transgender” characterizes those […]
The Role of Crown Prosecutors in our Criminal Justice System
Reading Time: 5 minutes Television shows such as Law and Order portray lawyers who prosecute crime as the heroes – fighting for justice and being the victim’s voice in the court. In real life, these lawyers do play a critical role in the criminal justice system. However, shows that portray prosecutors as the defenders of justice thrive on the […]
CRIMINAL | Two Steps Forward, One Step Back?
Reading Time: 5 minutes One Ontario Court of Justice judge says accused cannot plead guilty by phone In R. v. Candelaria, 2020 ONCJ 194, Justice Downes ruled, amidst the adjustments the courts have had to make due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that an accused cannot plead guilty via telephone. This means, according to Justice Downes, an accused can only […]
CRIMINAL | There is no Monopoly Man and COVID-19 is Not a Get out of Jail Free Card
Reading Time: 4 minutes Why the public needs to relax their fear of violent criminals being needlessly freed Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been public query and fear (and at times outrage) over whether or not the COVID-19 pandemic allows violent criminals to roam free on our streets. Salacious and tantalizing commentary has sparked public debate over whether […]
