I am a criminal defence lawyer, a law professor, a writer, a volunteer, and a social justice advocate. I get particularly fired up about policing and punishment, restorative justice, poverty, global justice, children’s rights and life conditions (children in war, child labour, child sexual exploitation, the value of girls in families and communities), education, increasing tolerance and understanding between people of diverse backgrounds, peace between Israel and Palestinians, and the abundance of chemical and electromagnetic materials that are harmful to our children, humanity, and the environment.
I am also a mother striving to devote as much as I can to my children while also nourishing my public life, staying relevant, and contributing to the rest of the world.
This blog represents a fusion of three of my pursuits and passions: improvement of our criminal justice system to make it more humane (which will also make it more effective), engagement of the public, and writing. I hope that it will contribute to the public’s meaningful understanding and involvement in the criminal justice system and to the improvement of the latter. And I hope that it will satisfy a couple of my needs, too!
Your comments and input are most welcome.
Thanks for reading!
Saw your post on the Law Union listserve and would like to keep up with your blogging through email because I am terrible at going to websites. Have you thought about adding an RSS feed so that people can add your blog to their readers? I follow a lot of news sites that way and it gives you a one window solution to all the thoughts you are trying to follow…
Happy writing.
Doug Wilkins
Hi Douglas,
Thank you for your comment and thoughts. It looks like you have subscribed already, but I will look into the RSS. I think that had it and then after a “technical difficulty” it disappeared. I’ll figure it out. And again, thank you for reading.
Dyanoosh
Did you see the terrible incident of a policeman shooting a gas tank right in the face of a student in Quebec. How cruel, harmful and unnecessary. After watching the video on CBC, I am surprised the student is still alive. This aggression needs to stop, and I think a police training program designed with more empathy could be a possible solution. Although, I would have to brainstorm what that program would look like and if it is a practical one to achieve or not. However, even if the police training were to include more empathy in its program, it may not stop policemen from abusing citizens. I really think that we need to find a way to hold the police accountable. But, how can we hold police accountable when you have a conservative government that stands to provide justifications for those policemen that do wrong? I just want to make it clear, that not all policemen do wrong, and I have met few policemen that are empathetic and professional when interacting with the public. However, I met far more that are not professional, and not empathetic, but rather they are very aggressive (verbally and physically). Those that do wrong should be help accountable. The police force is lacking integrity, and so they need to clean up the mess.
Mike