Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to search

True Crime General

Women in Criminal Justice

True Cases By and About Canadian Women and the Law

foreword by Rt Hon Beverley McLachlin

edited by William Trudell & Lorene Shyba

by (author) Susan Lang, Nancy Morrison, Lise Maisonneuve, Danielle Coté, Iona Jaffe, Kim Pate, Jennifer Briscoe, Catherine Dunn, Kaysi Fagan, Deborah Hatch, Karen Hudson, Barbara Jackman, Lucie Joncas, Susan Kyle, Jill Presser, Rosellen Sullivan & Jennifer Trehearne

Publisher
Durvile Publications
Initial publish date
May 2018
Category
General
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780994735249
    Publish Date
    May 2018
    List Price
    $29.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781988824147
    Publish Date
    May 2018
    List Price
    $18.95

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

Women in Criminal Justice is Book Four in the Durvile True Cases Series and in it, Canadian women judges and criminal lawyers tell of cases that they have found particularly challenging. Some were disquieting/perplexing or had surprising turns, many are high-profile, and many continue to have interesting social or personal effect. Unique to this book, are distinctly women’s perspectives, and many chapters deal with sexual assault, Indigenous, child protection and motherhood, mental health, LGBTQ+, immigration, terrorism, and other vitally pertinent issues of the decade.

Royalties go to Indigenous youth writing and filmmaking workshops through the NWT Literacy Council.

About the authors

Rt Hon Beverley McLachlin's profile page

William Trudell's profile page

Lorene Shyba PhD is publisher at Durvile & UpRoute Books and series editor of the Durvile True Cases series.

Lorene Shyba's profile page

Susan Lang's profile page

A lawyer, arbitrator, and judge, as well as a political activist and feminist, Nancy Morrison practiced law and adjudicated in Ontario, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Yukon, and Northwest Territories. As a judge, she served for nine years on the British Columbia Provincial Court and 15 years on the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Raised in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, she now lives in Vancouver, BC. Her memoir Benched: Passion for Law Reform was published in 2018 in the Durvile Reflections series.

Nancy Morrison's profile page

Lise Maisonneuve's profile page

Danielle Coté's profile page

Iona Jaffe's profile page

Kim Pate was appointed to the Senate of Canada on November 10, 2016. First and foremost, the mother of Michael and Madison, she is also a nationally renowned advocate who has spent the last 35 years working in and around the legal and penal systems of Canada, with and on behalf of some of the most marginalized, victimized, criminalized and institutionalized — particularly imprisoned youth, men and women.

Kim Pate is a member of the Order of Canada, a recipient of the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case, the Canadian Bar Associations’s Bertha Wilson Touchstone Award, and five honourary doctorates (Law Society of Upper Canada, University of Ottawa, Carleton University, St. Thomas University and Wilfred Laurier University) and numerous other awards. Her extensive list of publications, national and international speaking engagements and her strategic intervention and advocacy for substantive equality testify to her commitment to broader social, economic and cultural change. She continues to make significant contributions to public education around the issues of women’s inequality and discriminatory treatment within social, economic and criminal justice spheres.

Senator Pate lives in Ottawa, Ontario.

Kim Pate's profile page

Jennifer Briscoe's profile page

Catherine Dunn's profile page

Kaysi Fagan's profile page

Deborah Hatch's profile page

Karen Hudson's profile page

Barbara Jackman's profile page

Lucie Joncas, BA, LLM, obtained her law degree in 1991 from the Universite de Sherbrooke and her MA in health law in 2001. She has been in private practice for twenty years, mainly in the field of criminal law and mental health law. Ms. Joncas sits on the board as past president of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (2007–10). She is the past president of the Quebec Defence Attorneys Association (2005–07) and was a director of the Montreal Defence Attorneys Association for several years. Ms. Joncas is also on the board of directors of the Canadian Council of Criminal Defence Lawyers. She has been involved in many Quebec bar committees and also teaches criminal advocacy at the bar admission course. She was the president of the Haute-Yamaska Suicide Prevention Centre and has lectured at several conferences in Canada and abroad in the criminal and mental health fields.

 

Lucie Joncas' profile page

Susan Kyle's profile page

Jill Presser's profile page

Rosellen Sullivan's profile page

Jennifer Trehearne's profile page

Excerpt: Women in Criminal Justice: True Cases By and About Canadian Women and the Law (foreword by Rt Hon Beverley McLachlin; edited by William Trudell & Lorene Shyba; by (author) Susan Lang, Nancy Morrison, Lise Maisonneuve, Danielle Coté, Iona Jaffe, Kim Pate, Jennifer Briscoe, Catherine Dunn, Kaysi Fagan, Deborah Hatch, Karen Hudson, Barbara Jackman, Lucie Joncas, Susan Kyle, Jill Presser, Rosellen Sullivan & Jennifer Trehearne)

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. They should not have been relied upon to make decisions in either child protection or criminal cases.

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.

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?

Editorial Reviews

“Stories that stand out – personal, sometimes heart-rending stories told by defence lawyers, Crown attorneys and judges involved in Canada’s legal system.” — Jack Batten, The Toronto Star

“The reader emerges from reading Women in Criminal Justice with pictures in mind ... women 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.” — The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin

Other titles by