Reckoning with Racism : Police, Judges, and the RDS Case Hardback
by Constance Backhouse
Part of the Landmark Cases in Canadian Law series
Hardback
Description
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.
Information
-
Available to Order - This title is available to order, with delivery expected within 2 weeks
- Format:Hardback
- Pages:304 pages, 72 b/w photos
- Publisher:University of British Columbia Press
- Publication Date:22/11/2022
- Category:
- ISBN:9780774868228
Other Formats
- Paperback / softback from £22.15
Information
-
Available to Order - This title is available to order, with delivery expected within 2 weeks
- Format:Hardback
- Pages:304 pages, 72 b/w photos
- Publisher:University of British Columbia Press
- Publication Date:22/11/2022
- Category:
- ISBN:9780774868228
