Kirjahaku

Both lionized and vilified, Claire L'Heureux-Dubé has shaped the Canadian legal landscape – and in particular its highest court. The second woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, and the first from Quebec, she was known as "the great dissenter" on the bench, making judgments that were applauded and criticized in turn.L'Heureux-Dubé's innovative legal approach was anchored in the social, economic, and political context of her cases. Constance Backhouse employs a similar tactic. Rather than focusing exclusively on her high-profile cases and jurisprudential legacy, sheexplores the socio-political and cultural setting in which L'Heureux-Dubé's career unfolded, while also considering her personal life. This compelling biography covers aspects of legal history that have never been so fully investigated, enhancing our understanding of the judiciary, the creation of law, the distinctive socio-legal environment of Quebec, the experiences of women in the legal profession, and the inner workings of the top court.

In 1997, complacency about the racial neutrality of a predominantly white judiciary was shattered as the Supreme Court of Canada considered a complaint of judicial racial bias for the first time. The judge in question was Corrine Sparks, the country's first Black female judge.Reckoning with Racism considers the RDS case. A white Halifax police officer had arrested a Black teenager, placed him in a choke hold, and charged him with assaulting an officer and obstructing arrest. In acquitting the teen, Judge Sparks remarked that police sometimes overreacted when dealing with non-white youth. The acquittal held, but most of the white appeal judges critiqued her comments, based on the tradition that the legal system was non-racist unless proven otherwise. That became a matter of wide debate.This book assesses the case of alleged anti-white judicial bias, the surrounding excitement, the dramatic effects on those involved, and the significance for the Canadian legal system.

In 1997, complacency about the racial neutrality of a predominantly white judiciary was shattered as the Supreme Court of Canada considered a complaint of judicial racial bias for the first time. The judge in question was Corrine Sparks, the country's first Black female judge.Reckoning with Racism considers the RDS case. A white Halifax police officer had arrested a Black teenager, placed him in a choke hold, and charged him with assaulting an officer and obstructing arrest. In acquitting the teen, Judge Sparks remarked that police sometimes overreacted when dealing with non-white youth. The acquittal held, but most of the white appeal judges critiqued her comments, based on the tradition that the legal system was non-racist unless proven otherwise. That became a matter of wide debate.This book assesses the case of alleged anti-white judicial bias, the surrounding excitement, the dramatic effects on those involved, and the significance for the Canadian legal system.

Bertha Wilson et Claire L'Heureux-Dub ont t les premi res femmes juges la Cour supr me du Canada. L'une repr sentait le Canada anglais, l'autre le Qu bec. De milieux et de temp raments oppos s, les deux femmes ont affront des d fis similaires. Leurs nominations judiciaires dans les ann es 1980 ont ravi les f ministes et bouscul l'establishment juridique. Constance Backhouse plonge ici au coeur des obstacles sexistes que les deux femmes ont affront s en ducation, en pratique du droit et dans les cours de justice. Elle explore les divers moyens que celles-ci ont utilis s pour les surmonter, de m me que les d cisions marquantes qu'elles ont prises pour d fendre les droits des femmes et leur traitement mitig de la question raciale. Explorer les vies et les carri res de ces deux pionni res, c'est s'aventurer dans un monde de sexisme l gal appartenant une poque pass e. Quand L'Heureux-Dub a voulu s'inscrire la Facult de droit de l'Universit Laval (d fiant ainsi son p re), un fonctionnaire de l'universit lui a r pondu que le droit tait une discipline r serv e aux hommes . Quand Bertha Wilson est entr e la Facult de droit de Dalhousie University, le doyen lui a sugg r de retourner la maison et se mettre au crochet . Rappeler leurs efforts que ces deux femmes ont d ploy s pour naviguer dans une temp te de sexisme r v le les fondements des in galit s de genre dans notre pass . La question est maintenant: quelle part de ce sexisme a t rel gu aux poubelles de l'histoire et quelle part continue de nous hanter ? Publi en anglais.

Historically Canadians have considered themselves to be more or less free of racial prejudice. Although this conception has been challenged in recent years, it has not been completely dispelled. In Colour-Coded, Constance Backhouse illustrates the tenacious hold that white supremacy had on our legal system in the first half of this century, and underscores the damaging legacy of inequality that continues today. Backhouse presents detailed narratives of six court cases, each giving evidence of blatant racism created and enforced through law. The cases focus on Aboriginal, Inuit, Chinese-Canadian, and African-Canadian individuals, taking us from the criminal prosecution of traditional Aboriginal dance to the trial of members of the 'Ku Klux Klan of Kanada.' From thousands of possibilities, Backhouse has selected studies that constitute central moments in the legal history of race in Canada. Her selection also considers a wide range of legal forums, including administrative rulings by municipal councils, criminal trials before police magistrates, and criminal and civil cases heard by the highest courts in the provinces and by the Supreme Court of Canada. The extensive and detailed documentation presented here leaves no doubt that the Canadian legal system played a dominant role in creating and preserving racial discrimination. A central message of this book is that racism is deeply embedded in Canadian history despite Canada's reputation as a raceless society. Winner of the Joseph Brant Award, presented by the Ontario Historical Society

Constance Backhouse naci en Buenos Aires en el a o 1893. Hija de Frank Backhouse y Beatriz Mulhall, vivi en una estancia en Bah a San Blas, en el sur de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, con sus dos hermanas hasta la adolescencia. Durante este tiempo convivi con gauchos, puesteros, institutrices, and es, caballos y el viento incesante de la Patagonia. La estancia San Blas se encontraba en un brazo de mar y estaba constru da en gran parte con maderas rescatadas de los barcos que naufragaban en sus costas. Su amor a los animales y a su tierra, los viajes a Buenos Aires y a Europa, su presentaci n en sociedad y su noviazgo y casamiento con Charles Backhouse, marino de la Armada Brit nica en el a o 1917 permite ver c mo se viv a durante la guerra europea en Sud Am rica. Despu s de varios a os de seguir a su marido en diferentes destinos, el matrimonio se afinc en Londres donde falleci primero el marido, Almirante de la Armada Brit nica y luego, en el a o 1973, la autora. Su nieta, Susan Lindsey, que vive en Canad , rescat el manuscrito de esta biograf a tan especial y en la vida de Constance y sus hermanas y la transcribi para compartirla con sus familiares y amigos.

Winner of the 2009 Canadian Law and Society Association Book Prize "Carnal Crimes: Sexual Assault Law in Canada, 1900-1975" is an engaging and powerful book about sexual assault crimes in Canadian history by one of Canada s foremost legal historians. Using a case-study approach, Constance Backhouse explores nine sexual assault trials from across the country throughout the twentieth century. We move from small towns to large cities, from the Maritimes to the Northwest Territories, from the suffrage era to the period of the women s liberation movement. Each of these richly-textured vignettes offers insight into the failure of the criminal justice system to protect women from sexual assault, and each is highly readable and provocative. The most moving chapters document the law s refusal to accommodate a woman who could only give evidence in sign language, and the heartbreak of a child rape trial. Backhouse deals sensitively and deftly with these difficult stories. This book is the best kind of legal history a vivid exploration of the past which also gives us the tools to assess the efficacy (or in this case lack of efficacy) of the legal system. Published for the Osgoode Society for Legal History.