August 13, 2026
I’ve made the case regularly in these columns that imprisonment, even for a short time, has long-term negative effects on people and makes it harder for people to live positive, pro-social lives. Yet most people who get imprisoned in Canada do not return to prison; high recidivism rates are mainly a result of a relatively small number of people who are imprisoned over and over again.
August 12, 2026
As time went by and I got used to the realities of the parole board job, decisions came easier. But whenever we were seeing someone who had committed very violent offences, I could not help but be aware of the impact on others that a positive decision would have. My colleagues may have had different backgrounds but were equally concerned about possible ramifications from their decisions.
August 12, 2026
Parole. Not a weightless word, is it?
August 07, 2026
In March 1986, Lloyd Perkins was in jail in central Illinois. He disclosed to a fellow inmate (Donald Charlton) that he had murdered somebody in St. Louis a couple of years earlier. Charlton told the police. The police investigated. When they located Perkins, he was in a different jail for an unrelated crime.
August 05, 2026
The due process clauses in the Fifth and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution were established to protect all persons from being deprived of “life, liberty, or property” without due process of law.
August 05, 2026
A unanimous decision of the Supreme Court of Canada has struck down a privative clause that restricted the grounds for judicial review of an exercise of statutory authority: Democracy Watch v. Canada (Attorney General), 2026 SCC 28.
August 04, 2026
Nova Scotia’s provincial court is beginning work on an electronic filing and digital document management system for those frequenting the court. According to a recent news release, work on the court’s “digital transformation” will start immediately.
August 04, 2026
The Law Foundation of Ontario has awarded the 2026 Guthrie Award, which recognizes exceptional access-to-justice champions, to Kerrie Blaise.
July 31, 2026
The Law Commission of Canada (LCC) has selected Kaitlyn Blaser, Marie-Pier Jolicoeur and Leanna Katz as Emerging Scholars for its spring-summer 2026 term.
July 30, 2026
The Law Foundation of Ontario is sending out a call for applications for its Responsive program, which provides grants to non-profit organizations for community-driven initiatives that improve access to justice.