CLA elects Daniel Brown, John Hale, and Adam Weisberg as vice presidents, and Cassandra DeMelo as women’s vice president
Source: John Struthers named president of Criminal Lawyers’ Association
A FOLLOW-UP ON PHONE SCAMS – Now if they could only arrest the “duct cleaners”.
BE AWARE OF THE LATEST PHONE SCAMS – Police say phone scam callers now have OPP as call display
JUDGES JUST WANNA HAVE FUN! – An interesting story.
The Indiana Supreme Court found that the three had “gravely undermined public trust.” The fight apparently started when one of the judges raised a middle finger at two men yelling from a passing SUV.
Source: 3 Indiana Judges Suspended After White Castle Brawl That Left 2 Of Them Wounded
WHY DO WE WEAR GOWNS IN COURT? – “The centuries-old tradition of gowning in court is overdue for a modernization.” Yes, it is tradition but the Canadian Bar Association is advocating for exceptions such as pregnancy or other personal circumstances, such as medical conditions or disabilities. I ask why we, now well into the 21st century, continue to wear gowns at all.
pregnancy or other personal circumstances, such as medical conditions or disabilities.
Source: Canadian Bar Association – Women Lawyers Forum advocates reform to gowning policy in courts
DOES THE “JORDAN” CEILING OF 18 MONTHS APPLY TO YOUTHS? – In R. v. Jordan the S.C.C. protected the constitutional right to trial within a reasonable time by setting a presumptive ceiling of 18 months in Ontario Court proceedings. The court decided that the same ceiling applies to youth justice court proceedings. The clock runs at the same rate for youths. At least for now.
Source: R. v. K.J.M. – SCC Cases (Lexum)
PEREMPTORY CHALLENGES – Do we have them or not? Does an accused person have the right to participate in the selection of the jury that is going to try him? Nobody knows. It makes it extremely difficult to pick a jury. This is an excellent example of how hard cases make bad law.
An Ontario Superior Court ruling found disallowing peremptory challenges would violate Charter rights
Source: Lawyers wrestle with conflicting views on peremptory challenges
IMMEDIATE ROADSIDE SUSPENSION FOR IMPAIRED DRIVING (MANITOBA) – It looks like in Manitoba they are not using the criminal justice system to deal with routine impaired driving offenders but rather using provincial road safety legislation to impose immediate sanctions. It is an interesting approach even though there are a lot of problems with it such as being “road justice” delivered entirely by police officers with no opportunity to defend or challenge the decision, or being punished for being in the warn range even though it is not a criminal offence, or if you don’t own a vehicle you cannot comply with the ignition interlock requirement, or ….
THE BAN ON PEREMPTORY CHALLENGES – It only took 7 weeks to strike that down as unconstitutional. “The lawfulness of jury verdicts across the country will remain doubtful until (many years from now) the Supreme Court of Canada has addressed the constitutionality of the new regime.” The process of jury selection, now and for the foreseeable future is in turmoil.
The ruling highlights the potential for chaos in jury trials across the country, now that the selection process has become an unsettled area of law