The Power of a Guilty Plea
“You mean,” he said, this look of absolute unbelief working across his face, “you mean, if I’m guilty I get out today?” “Right.” “And if I’m innocent I stay locked up?” “You got it, man. …
Criminal Law
Everybody May Get Stoned
A marijuana decriminalization law goes into effect today in the state of Massachusetts. The law, approved by voters in a November referendum, makes possession of one ounce or less of marijuana legal, though subject to a $100…
CSIS Snooping on Calls to Your Lawyer
Could CSIS be snooping in on your calls? Routine harassment has been noted where they could not make a legal case. And if they can violate solicitor-client privilege, anything is possible. The concept of solicitor-client…
Judge’s Daughter Sues Driver After Accidentally Killing His Passenger While Intoxicated
Elizabeth Shelton, the 21-year old daughter of a state district juvenile judge, was convicted last year of intoxication manslaughter for the death of her boyfriend. Shelton caused his death when she crashed a Lexus SUV…
Defending the “Guilty”
An interesting situation is developing in India as certain members of the Bombay Bar have unofficially declared that no lawyer is going to defend the lone terrorist caught in the Mumbai attacks of 26/11. At…
Walking in the Other Person’s Steel Toed Boots
Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. – Master Yoda, P.C., C.J.C. In this award-winning 2006 film produced in cooperation with the…
Med Students Think They’re Isolated? Hah, Wimps!
A study a couple months ago indicated that medical students are socially segregated from each other. The reasons included: High workloads school located outside the main campus High numbers of contact hours, outside the university…
American Lawyer Arrested in Middle of Yonge St.
We’re used to Canadians having problems crossing the border, but the other way around usually isn’t so bad. Marc S. Dreier, a prominent New York lawyer, was arrested in Toronto just before noon on Tues., …
Beans, beans, the magical fruit / The more you eat, the more you go to jail.
A 12-year old boy attending Stuart’s Spectrum Jr./Sr. High School in Martin County, Florida, was arrested November 4, 2008, by a member of the county Sheriff’s Office, after a teacher said that he had “deliberately passed gas to…
Early Release for Weight
Earlier this year we raised the question of how the justice system will deal with the obesity epidemic. We just got what might be our first test case. Michel Lapointe, aka Big Mike, got early…
Ontario Expands “Justice on Target” Initiative
According to the Ontario Attorney General’s website: In 1992, it took an average of 4.3 court appearances to bring a charge to completion. By last year, this figure had more than doubled to 9.2 appearances….
CBA Joins Fight to Repatriate Omar Khadr
The Canadian Bar Association has announced that it is joining with a number of other agencies to fight for the repatriation of Omar Khadr to Canada. Omar Khadr, a 15-year-old boy at the time of…