2018 BOOK SIGNING EVENTS
CALGARY, Thu. May 24, 5:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Danish Canadian Club, 727 – 11 Ave. S.W.
EDMONTON, Wed. Jun. 13, 5:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Audreys Books, 10701 Jasper Avenue
The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin. “Foreword”
The reader emerges from reading Women in Criminal Justice with two pictures in mind. The first picture consists of vivid images of what actually goes on in Canada’s criminal courtrooms. There is justice to be found there, but too often injustice as well. And despite the progress that has been made, too often it is the vulnerable in our society — women, Indigenous persons, the mentally ill — who are the victims of lack of legal aid, sloppy science, and lack of appropriate sentencing alternatives. The second picture is of a cadre of people like the women who contributed to this book, who work without respite to achieve just outcomes for the people they deal with, often in the face of difficulty and at considerable personal cost. Both pictures are part of the justice system; both are important.
Honourable Susan Lang. “Flawed Forensic Evidence: The Motherisk Hair Analysis Independent Review”
Overarching problems were rooted in the lack of adequate oversight by the Hospital. As a result, the Lab continued to test hair for forensic purposes before it even received clinical accreditation in 2011. Moreover, clinical accreditation related only to the Lab’s processes and did not assess the robustness or reliability of the hair tests. Sadly, the bottom line was that the Lab’s hair tests were flawed. … Nonetheless, it was clear that the results were frequently accepted as ‘fact’ evidence by participants in the system and too often used as a measure of a mother’s credibility and/or ability to parent. A positive hair test result from the Lab was perceived as “almost incontrovertible” evidence that corrosively affected the whole course of the resolution or disposition.
Honourable Nancy Morrison. “The Courage of Vicki”
There was a mean shed in a nearby field. Small and old, a sometime pump house, it had a dirt floor, upright rough-hewn slats for walls, some barbed wire, broken pipes. Inside, feed for cattle. An old bathtub was outside, to be filled with water for the cattle. Its only door could not be seen from the grandmother’s farm. It was one of the places he took the child to rape her…. Vicki said that he was always pressing against her, always touchy-feely, fondling. Then he would get quiet, and she knew what was coming. He would get her alone, isolated — like this first time in the shed. Whenever she had tried to resist, she got slapped, struck hard. She was afraid and ashamed. “I can smell him. He touches me too much. His hands are in my pants, his finger in my vagina.” Then he got her pants off.
Honourable Lise Maisonneuve. “How to Shift a Culture”
I understand that the readers of this book will be a varied lot, but I know that many women will read it pondering their futures in the criminal law arena. In this book, you’ll read many essays from experienced criminal lawyers — all women — who, despite the many challenges they faced in continuing and succeeding in their careers, persisted and, in turn, their contributions to the law have had important and positive impacts for both individuals specifically and society as a whole. They are examples for us all. In light of those stories, I see one of my roles as Chief Justice as encouraging women to follow in their footsteps. Part of that role involves encouraging and maintaining the gender diversity of our Court today as an administrative function as Chief Justice. But another part of my role is personal — telling my own story and the lessons I have learned and can share.
Honourable Danielle Côté. “Certainty? Certainly Not”
A judge is ultimately alone when deciding a case and is always alert to the danger of a wrongful conviction. The truth is that not only is the judge alone, but if a wrongful verdict is rendered, also keenly aware that many may point out the judge as being a bad judge, incapable of rendering justice.
Perfection is not possible. It is out of reach for human beings. A good judge is always trying to reach perfection. But is there certainty? Certainly not. But reaching for perfection helps me sleep at night.
Honourable Iona Jaffe. “The Toronto 18”
Bound by his own sense of confidentiality, my colleague did not reveal any details. But he did make a gesture with one hand. He pointed down to the ground. I was clearly confused. He pointed to the ground again. It was at that moment, sitting in my office on the 35th floor of the Exchange Tower in Toronto, that it struck me. My colleague was pointing to the floor of the Exchange Tower. “This building is the target of the terrorist attack?” He just looked at me, and I knew I was right. To say I felt an instant sense of unease was an understatement. I wanted to leave the building of course, but my feelings of anxiety were mixed with feelings of guilt. I had knowledge and could leave the building if I wanted. But I could not share what I knew with anyone else in the building. Not yet. And I could not tell my family that the building to which I commuted everyday was apparently in the cross-hairs of a terrorist group.
Senator Kim Pate. “A Study in Discrimination and Inequity”
When I was in the unit manager’s office at the end of the [prison] visit, the head of security interrupted our meeting to advise that he was planning to bring in the emergency response team. I asked why. He advised that the women on the segregation tier, the first range I visited that day, were rioting — screaming, yelling threats and banging the bars of their cells. I advised that I had been down there speaking with those women a few hours before and they were upset about the lack of programming and spiritual support — they were all Indigenous — but that they were working on a group grievance to address their issues. What was striking to me was what the head of security said: “Why don’t you take the baby down? I hear they like your baby.” I wondered, How serious could the risk be that the women posed if the head of security believed a baby could calm the situation?
Jennifer Briscoe. “Fly-in Justice in the North”
We began the case. It was very difficult with a reluctant witness who was torn between her wish to protect her husband and the fact that she was testifying before many in the community who knew the truth about their relationship. Suddenly, in the middle of the trial, someone burst into the makeshift courtroom. In the chaos, the court learned that a canoe had tipped while crossing the Porcupine River and that a child had fallen into the water along with his grandfather. The trial was no longer relevant as the courtroom emptied. By chance, our Fly-In teams’ presence offered an opportunity for rescue. The pilot, standing by until court ended, was seconded to encircle the area to search for the lost child. Sadly the search was in vain, night fell early in this area of the world. The court did not resume, the pilot returned, and we all took some time to recompose. We left at day’s end, a docket unfinished, a community in shock and in mourning.
Catherine Dunn. “Silent Partner”
Although Anna never reveals what happened on the night in question, she slowly, and over a period of a year, provides me with a glimpse of her domestic life with [her partner] Felix. She shares that on one occasion after being assaulted by Felix, who was in an alcoholic rage, she runs barefoot in her nightdress to her mother-in-law’s home approximately three kilometers away. It is a cool September night in northern Manitoba. Anna arrives at the home, and despite the fact that she can both hear and see people laughing within the residence, no one answers her knock or her pleas for help. Afraid to go back home, Anna makes the decision to spend the cold night on her mother-in-law’s wooden stoop. On another occasion, and prior to her baby’s birth, Anna describes having been forced to flee from Felix’s wrath by running into the bush and hiding there, silent and shivering, while her husband searches for her, rifle in hand. None of these incidences of domestic violence are ever reported.
Kaysi Fagan. “Weeding Out the Good”
A police Drug Expert Report estimated that the street value of the marijuana was over half a million dollars. The expert came to the abundantly obvious conclusion that this could not possibly be a case of personal possession, because the amount of marijuana seized was theoretically enough to roll 150,334 joints. The expert opined that if a person was to smoke a joint every two hours, 24 hours a day, seven days a week that it would take her 34.5 years to smoke all the marijuana seized; that would put Pearl at close to a hundred years old. Arguing that this was personal use was not an option.
Deborah Hatch. “Shaky Foundation of Evidence: The Wendy Scott Case”
The former manager of Peanuts Pub later testified that on that Saturday morning, she saw two thin Caucasian women outside Casey Armstrong’s trailer. They were associated with an old red ‘beater’ car. One of the women had long, reddish hair. The woman with reddish hair put a large, dark garbage bag or duffle bag into the trunk and the women left the scene in the red vehicle .Mr. Harvey called his friend, Casey Armstrong, several times that Saturday. There was never an answer. The next morning, Harvey packed up some beer and went to Armstrong’s trailer…. He found his friend in the bathtub, wearing a blood-soaked Calgary Flames shirt and his Calgary Flames jogging pants. The bathroom was bloody.
Karen Hudson. “Pictures from a Lawyer’s Expedition”
There were the women, young and old. An older client was charged with theft — theft to feed her addiction. We arrived in court armed with a plan. Progress had been made. The Crown asked for jail. I stood and advocated hope. About fifteen minutes into my likely too-long submissions, and with a packed courtroom of cases waiting, the Judge interrupted. He pointed at me, then my client and said, “You may believe her,” then, poking his chest, continued, “but I don’t.”
Barbara Jackman. “Security Certificates: The Jahallah Case”
The Red Notice originally said Mr. Jaballah faced the death penalty in Egypt. In February 2001, our Supreme Court declared that extradition to face the death penalty was contrary to the principles of fundamental justice under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In March, 2003, the Egyptian government amended the notice to indicate that the probable penalty faced by Mr. Jaballah was hard labour for life. Then later that year, Egypt again amended the notice to state that the maximum possible penalty was life imprisonment, notwithstanding that Egyptian law continued to provide for the death penalty.
Lucie Joncas. “Suicidal Clients: Recognizing the Warning Signs”
Her apparent serenity left me confused. In the following weeks, I tried to contact her but she wasn’t picking up my calls. I figured that maybe with most of her conditions having been removed, she might have taken a trip somewhere. I let a month go by, after which I decided to contact her mother. When I asked if she had seen Ariane lately, there was a heavy silence at the other end and I thought, What don’t I know? What I didn’t know is that on the day of judgment, Ariane’s boyfriend found her dead in the garage. I felt a chill go up my spine. The serene and even hopeful attitude she had displayed made more sense in my mind in light of her imminent death.
Susan Kyle. “Sharing Our Experiences: As Crowns, As Mothers”
Then there are the pressures of handling criminal files – which sometimes boils over. “There were times when I’d tell my co-workers, ‘I didn’t leave the apocalypse of my home to come into the office to hear you jackasses arguing.’ “Often what was shared tipped into deep black-gallows humour. “I decided to change files from a particularly dark one. I picked up a bail file only to find a man charged with the murder of his best friend. According to the notes, he’d eaten the friend after he’d murdered him.”
Jill Presser, “Mom’s Rea: Motherhood, Criminal Defence, and Guilt”
All criminal lawyers are intimately familiar with guilt. The criminal justice system turns on whether our clients’ criminal guilt has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt or not. Our professional lives are all about trying to show that it has not. But for criminal defence lawyers who are mothers, guilt has a whole other meaning too. Working mothers experience ‘mommy guilt’, gnawing painful pangs over the hours spent away from our children while at work. And while all working moms may experience mommy guilt, those of us who are mothers and working criminal defence lawyers may have reason for especially acute guilt.
Rosellen Sullivan. “Youthful Innocence Lost”
Have you ever asked a thirteen-year-old, in the presence of his parents, to describe his penis? I have. I consider this a low point in my life, let alone my career. I ask this of my young client knowing with a hundred percent certainty that if a male lawyer asked me to describe my vagina in the presence of my parents, or even not, I would grab his perfectly engraved letter opener and stab myself in the jugular, right there, in his office.
Jennifer Trehearne. “Another Day in Court: A Eulogy”
I do not know what the answer is when someone’s mental illness causes them to pose a danger to the community. I understand why we strive to respect the integrity of the accused to conduct his defence as he sees fit. I also understand, better in retrospect, why the Judge was reluctant to release Mr. Johnson on bail. I understand that he was caught between a rock and a hard place. But I believe as a society we can do better. As I felt so keenly at the time, we need to provide meaningful resources to those in Mr. Johnson’s position even before they are arrested. And following arrest, we need more resources for defence lawyers to call upon, and we need there to be better choices available for judges to make. Those with severe mental illness struggle to cope in our jail system. Their psychiatric symptoms are not only difficult to treat in that setting, but are exacerbated by it. Their suffering is compounded.
