crime

"Sparky" the electric chair from Sing Sing prison.

Canada marks 35 years since abolition of the death penalty

The camera rolled as a three-drug cocktail was shot into Andrew Grant DeYoung’s arm, there in a prison in Jackson, Georgia. It captured De Young as the injection reached his veins and killed him, thus carrying out his sentence, and granting him a spot in the history books as the first man in America in… More »

Patricia Douglas made headlines after she was raped by an MGM director.

The sinister power and deep historical roots of the word "slut"

Weighing in with 57,184 votes, the most popular definition of the word “slut” on Urban Dictionary is “a woman with the morals of a man.” If we strip away the male punchline, hasn’t “slut” always meant that? A woman who pursues her own pleasure in spite of a pervasive double standard? The SlutWalks are challenging that… More »

yellowing book and judge's gavel

Why juries are biased: only rich people can afford to be on them

On Monday, the Toronto Star reported on two Ontario judges who opened an investigation after noticing slumping jury attendance rates — at times reaching as little as 50 percent. The article goes in depth, examining jury absence rates and penalties by province. Only three of the provinces and territories track jury attendance, but those who… More »

legalaidscale

Inadequate pay for Crown prosecutors threatens the integrity of our justice system

On February 8, roughly 1,500 Quebec crown prosecutors and lawyers went on strike in frustration over being the country’s most overworked and underpaid public lawyers. The strike is believed to be the first in Canada. Prosecutors were given the right to strike in 2003 by the provincial government, who opted for contracts and incremental raises instead of… More »

Modern hunting rifle.

Absolutely everything you need to know about today’s gun registry vote

UPDATE, Sept. 22, 1:55 pm: CanWest Postmedia reports that C-391 sponsor MP Candice Hoeppner “has all but conceded defeat” and “given up on last-minute lobbying” for today’s vote, and calls the eight liberals and 12 NDPers who voted in favour last time, “turncoats.” She estimates the government is one — one! — vote short, which… More »

Conrad Black stands in front of granite wall with one hand up. Copyright bildungblog.blotspot.com 2010

Wednesday WTF: Conrad Black bails to Palm Beach; Byron Sonne bides behind bars

Descriptions of Conrad Black in news stories about his arrest, conviction, subsequent time served in jail, and now his bail hearing, often liken him to some sort of greasy mammal, who has “wriggled free” after “swindling” the public out of $6 million. News of Black’s bail-granting in Chicago broke on Monday, overshadowing the results of… More »

Omar Khadr

Why Omar Khadr's case is a constitutional crisis for us all

It’s time for a little refresher course in Canadian civil society: Canada’s formal political dependence on Britain came to an end in 1982 with Pierre Trudeau’s Canada Act.  The Act led to the patriation of the Canadian Constitution–you know, that old document that outlines the vibrant democratic system of government we so proudly employ in… More »

G8G20ISUca: "There's been damage; police will continue to assess - any action taken will be balanced. #g8g20isu"

Toronto's G20 weekend in 7 Tweets

Thousands of people who experienced the G20 summit weekend in Toronto have their own individual stories—some of them terrifying, we’ll have some from our own correspondents soon—and Twitter was one of the main ways that the narrative was shaped. Lots of people took their smartphones into the streets to document the protests and the police… More »

Crowd hemmed in at Queen and Spadina. Photo by Jonas Naimark.

The 5 most important photos from the G20 Summit in Toronto

Jonas Naimark took one of the most striking photos from Sunday, showing the demonstrators and bystanders hemmed in by riot police at the corner of Queen and Spadina. This is just a small portion of the image; click to see the remarkable full-size photo on Naimark’s website. One of the most notorious images from Saturday… More »

riot police shooting tear gas canister

The 5 most important videos from the G20 Summit in Toronto

By far the most significant video of the weekend was this one, shot by Meghann Millard from her third floor office on Queen St. West, in which the protesters sing the national anthem, and are then charged by a line of police in riot gear. This video received an extra boost when no less than… More »