DiscoverVerdicts and VoicesVerdicts and Voices: Canada’s first Black female judge and the RDS Case, lawyers getting laughs, and the Safe Third Country Agreement.
Verdicts and Voices: Canada’s first Black female judge and the RDS Case, lawyers getting laughs, and the Safe Third Country Agreement.

Verdicts and Voices: Canada’s first Black female judge and the RDS Case, lawyers getting laughs, and the Safe Third Country Agreement.

Update: 2025-07-31
Share

Description

Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices is a monthly podcast in which we unpack key legal stories and celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada. This special series delves into legal news, landmark cases and features expert guests who provide unique insights into Canada’s justice system.

In this episode, host Alison Crawford welcomes professor and historian Constance Backhouse to discuss her 2022 book Reckoning with Racism: Police, Judges, and the RDS Case, about the first time the Supreme Court of Canada considered a complaint of judicial racial bias. Ironically, the judge in question was Corrine Sparks, the country’s first Black female judge. (18:30 to 34:44 )

For a look at the lighter side of legal practice, we talk with two lawyers, Michael Currie and Nadia Halum, who litigate by day and self-deprecate by night, performing stand-up comedy in their spare time, and we learn about the Fantasy Courts league run by lawyer Thomas Slade that turns guessing how the Supreme Court will rule on decisions into a game. (34:44 to 57:57 )

We also take a look at the Safe Third Country Agreement. Our guests are immigration lawyer Lorne Waldman and Anwen Hughes, Senior Director of Legal Strategy, Refugee Programs at Human Rights First in NYC. (01:42 to 18:30 )

If you have any comments on this episode, or if you would like to send us any story ideas, you can write to us at podcasts@cba.org


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Comments 
In Channel
loading
00:00
00:00
x

0.5x

0.8x

1.0x

1.25x

1.5x

2.0x

3.0x

Sleep Timer

Off

End of Episode

5 Minutes

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

30 Minutes

45 Minutes

60 Minutes

120 Minutes

Verdicts and Voices: Canada’s first Black female judge and the RDS Case, lawyers getting laughs, and the Safe Third Country Agreement.

Verdicts and Voices: Canada’s first Black female judge and the RDS Case, lawyers getting laughs, and the Safe Third Country Agreement.

Lorne Waldman, Anwen Hughes, Michael Currie, Nadia Halum, Constance Backhouse, Thomas Slade, Alison Crawford