Reposted by Lisa KerrOrin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 27/07/2026I’d be very interested to hear from current or recent law students on whether they agree with this argument that fairness concerns justify switching to closed-book exams. 549416
Reposted by Lisa KerrAnna Mehler Paperny @mehlerpaperny.bsky.social · 27/05/2026Each of us, in discussing crime and punishment, should be forced to answer: What is the social utility of this punishment? (Also please note the salutary effects of bail in this story.) 021
Reposted by Lisa KerrAnna Mehler Paperny @mehlerpaperny.bsky.social · 27/05/2026Politicians talk a lot about mythically incorrigible offenders. What do we do with people who commit crimes and rehabilitate? www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti... by @coleenlisa.bsky.socialtheglobeandmail.comOpinion: What should Canada do with rehabilitated offenders?The Supreme Court has ruled that if a person commits a serious crime but then turns their life around, that should matter at sentencing. That’s a good thing 121
Reposted by Lisa KerrPrisoners' Legal Services @bcprisonjustice.bsky.social · 08/04/2026Prisoners deserve more information about use-of-force incidents - read the opinion piece on the recent use of force JR filed with support from PLS here: tinyurl.com/udbwa9eetinyurl.comOpinion: Prisoners deserve more information about use-of-force incidentsA new lawsuit seeks to change the way Correctional Service Canada discloses reviews of when force is used 001
Reposted by Lisa KerrScott Shapiro @scottjshapiro.bsky.social · 12/12/2025My news feed: Trump EO Formalizes Deportation of Kids Bad at Sports White House to Extend ACA Subsidies, But Only for AI Girlfriends Hegseth Claims No Binging Promise a Joke, Tells Press to “Lighten up” Trump Admin Argues in Court that Constitution Actually Starts at 2nd Amendment 4537
Reposted by Lisa KerrMaybell Romero @maybell.bsky.social · 10/12/2025In my email just now. Evil. 3151
Lisa Kerr @coleenlisa.bsky.social · 06/12/2025When legislation aims to ensure that investments of multiple First Nations in litigation are wasted, aims to silence judges, and shows no regard for the integrity and limited resources of the justice system, I should hope judges in this country will not be mute. 051
Lisa Kerr @coleenlisa.bsky.social · 06/12/2025Justice Feasby handed down a complex, comprehensive decision six weeks ahead of an already expedited schedule. An extraordinary feat, done in order to give the public what it paid for in terms of judicial resources. 011
Reposted by Lisa KerrChris Sewrattan @sewrattanlaw.bsky.social · 25/11/2025R. v. McDonald, 2025 ONCA 807: Important case on Browne v Dunn in which the Associate Chief Justice overturns a murder conviction entered by a now-sitting member of the Court of Appeal coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca/coa/coa/en/i...coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca R. v. McDonald - Court of Appeal for Ontario 121
Lisa Kerr @coleenlisa.bsky.social · 11/11/2025Office hours with Professor Weinrib. This young pupil tries to justify the idea that 6-7 really is funny and interesting. 020
Reposted by Lisa KerrChris Sewrattan @sewrattanlaw.bsky.social · 07/11/2025R. v. Rioux, 2025 SCC 34 at para 98: To determine whether a complainant did not consent or lacked the capacity to consent at the time of a sexual act, a court must consider all the relevant evidence, including circumstantial evidence. decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/scc-...decisions.scc-csc.ca R. v. Rioux - SCC Cases 111
Reposted by Lisa KerrChris Sewrattan @sewrattanlaw.bsky.social · 29/09/2025R. v. Marshall, 2025 ONCA 638 at para. 148: "The trial Crown’s closing was graphic, inflammatory, and contained rhetoric that falls below the expected standard of Crown counsel." But the Court of Appeal is going to let this one pass. coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca/coa/coa/en/i...coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca R. v. Marshall - Court of Appeal for Ontario 212
Reposted by Lisa KerrChris Sewrattan @sewrattanlaw.bsky.social · 26/09/2025R. v. Sheppard, 2025 SCC 29: Friesen applies to historical sexual abuse against children. Sentences for historical offences are properly determined in accordance with the sentencing regimes and societal perspectives that prevail at the time of sentencing decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/scc-...decisions.scc-csc.ca R. v. Sheppard - SCC Cases 111
Reposted by Lisa KerrChris Sewrattan @sewrattanlaw.bsky.social · 19/09/2025R. v. Bowie, 2025 ONCA 661 at para 27: Justice Trotter dismisses a bail pending appeal application from a convicted criminal lawyer through the public safety arm of the Oland test. This is rare. coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca/coa/coa/en/i...coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca R. v. Bowie - Court of Appeal for Ontario 112
Reposted by Lisa KerrChris Sewrattan @sewrattanlaw.bsky.social · 28/08/2025R. v. Storey, 2025 ONCA 599 at para. 66: At sentencing, don't conflate NCR with moral blameworthiness. An offender's cognitive challenges can be mitigating even if the challenges don't rise to the NCR level. coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca/coa/coa/en/i...coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca R. v. Storey - Court of Appeal for Ontario 011
Reposted by Lisa KerrChris Sewrattan @sewrattanlaw.bsky.social · 13/08/2025R. v. Pierre, 2025 ONCA 589 at para 60: The Court overturns a murder conviction entered by their now-colleague. The jury instruction failed to fully explain what the after-the-fact conduct could not do: inform the mens rea generally. coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca/coa/coa/en/i...coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca R. v. Pierre - Court of Appeal for Ontario 011
Reposted by Lisa KerrChris Sewrattan @sewrattanlaw.bsky.social · 07/08/2025R. v. Leclaire, 2025 ONSC 4203 (CanLII): Justice Kathy Jalali refused to impose a mandatory minimum prison sentence. The appeal court (SCJ) basically called this judicial misconduct. canlii.ca/t/kdntc 112
Reposted by Lisa KerrChris Sewrattan @sewrattanlaw.bsky.social · 08/08/2025R. v. D.B., 2025 ONCA 577 at para 19: Failing to meaningfully engage with the collateral consequences of family separation is an error in principle. coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca/coa/coa/en/i...media.tenor.coma close up of a bald man 's face with his eyes closed and a serious look on his face .ALT: a close up of a bald man 's face with his eyes closed and a serious look on his face . 121
Lisa Kerr @coleenlisa.bsky.social · 12/08/2025Great piece. Stop subsidizing families who don’t need it through artificially constrained tuition. Take steps to support students in need. Tuition freeze should not be populist. It does not level the playing field, just destroys our universities. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...theglobeandmail.comOpinion: Ontario universities must be released from their financial chokeholdDeclining funding, in concert with fewer international students, has placed the province’s post-secondary system in peril. It’s time for a change 141
Reposted by Lisa KerrPaul Alexander @paulalexanderlaw.bsky.social · 26/07/2025Heather Mallick does a disservice to the women of the criminal defence bar by implying that their male clients hire them for the optics. I'm proud to have learned from many of the brilliant women who are leading our profession. Their clients hire them because they are excellent lawyers.thestar.com 241
Lisa Kerr @coleenlisa.bsky.social · 22/07/2025"No other court in the country has a rigid policy denying physical access to counsel." www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...theglobeandmail.comOpinion: It’s time to let lawyers come back to the Supreme Court of CanadaRestrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic have yet to be lifted, to the detriment of the court 170
Reposted by Lisa KerrChris Sewrattan @sewrattanlaw.bsky.social · 20/07/2025R. v. Griffiths, 2025 ONCA 511, citing in R. v. Lu, 2022 ONSC 1918, at para. 58, per Di Luca J.: A person can be remorseful for having committed an offence while nonetheless exercising their constitutional right to a trial. The two are not incompatible. coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca/coa/coa/en/i...coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca R. v. Griffiths - Court of Appeal for Ontario 111
Reposted by Lisa KerrChris Sewrattan @sewrattanlaw.bsky.social · 20/07/2025R. v. Gilmore, 2025 ONCA 517 at para. 47, citing Easterbrook, 2022 ONCJ 647, at paras. 43-44, per @brockbjones.bsky.social: It is an aggravating sentencing factor that an assault was committed on public transit. In this case, it was the TTC subway. coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca/coa/coa/en/i...coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca R. v. Gilmore - Court of Appeal for Ontario 021
Reposted by Lisa KerrTony Paisana @tonypaisana.bsky.social · 15/07/2025R. v. Mariani, 2025 BCSC 1298: the retroactive elimination of "Faint Hope" is unconstitutional. Faint Hope applications are now permissible for anyone convicted of the applicable offences before or after December 2011. Another "Truth in Sentencing" provision is struck down. 001
Reposted by Lisa KerrChris Sewrattan @sewrattanlaw.bsky.social · 20/06/2025R. v. Kinamore, 2025 SCC 19: The Supreme Court attempts to even the ledger on 276/Seaboyer/sexual history evidence. The Crown must bring an application that mirrors s. 276's procedural requirements to introduce this evidence. [1/5] decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/scc-...decisions.scc-csc.ca R. v. Kinamore - SCC Cases 111
Reposted by Lisa KerrTony Paisana @tonypaisana.bsky.social · 28/06/2025I am pleased to announce that Peck and Company will be accepting articling applications for 2026/2027. Please submit your applications by July 15, 2025. If interested, please direct message me for further application details. 021
Reposted by Lisa KerrTony Paisana @tonypaisana.bsky.social · 18/06/2025R. v. Attachie, 2025 BCCA 183: the mitigating effect of a guilty plea is enhanced if the Crown's case is weak. "A fragile Crown's case is a fundamentally important circumstance of the pleas, if not the most fundamentally important". 011
Reposted by Lisa KerrMichael Spratt @mspratt.bsky.social · 27/06/2025Hurry up and wait. That’s the unofficial motto of Ontario’s criminal courts — and it’s breaking the system. My latest for Canadian Lawyer on inefficiency, inconsistency, and how scheduling a trial can take longer than actually holding one. www.canadianlawyermag.com/news/opinion...canadianlawyermag.comHurry up and wait: The Ontario court's relentless commitment to inefficiencyOur criminal justice system has turned scheduling into a spectacle of wasted resources and hollow rituals 253
Reposted by Lisa KerrChris Sewrattan @sewrattanlaw.bsky.social · 25/06/2025 R. v. Singh, 2025 ONCA 460 at para 11: A judge cannot reason that as a matter of logic and common sense, one would expect a sexual abuse victim to demonstrate behaviour consistent with that abuse or change behaviour such as avoiding the perpetrator. coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca/coa/coa/en/i...coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca R. v. Singh - Court of Appeal for Ontario 011
Reposted by Lisa KerrCriminological Highlights @crimhighlights.bsky.social · 01/05/2025To get first access to new issues, be sure to subscribe via our website: crimhighlights.ca.crimhighlights.caCriminological HighlightsFree journal summarizing topical research in criminal justice 001
Reposted by Lisa KerrCriminological Highlights @crimhighlights.bsky.social · 01/05/2025The Spring 2025 issue of "Criminological Highlights" is out now! In it we highlight studies exploring race and risk assessment, pretrial release, the right to remain silent, and much more. View the issue here: www.crimhighlights.ca/criminologic... 101
Reposted by Lisa KerrChris Sewrattan @sewrattanlaw.bsky.social · 06/06/2025R. v. Anderson, 2025 ONCA 408: This case is going to the SCC on two issues: 1️⃣ fabrication instruction 2️⃣ unreasonable verdict coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca/coa/coa/en/i... 111
Reposted by Lisa KerrLawrence Solum @lsolum.bsky.social · 29/05/2025Weinrib on Constitutional Rights, buff.ly/mJ2KQbn - Jacob Weinrib (Queens University) has posted The Impasse of Constitutional Rights on SSRN.buff.lyWeinrib on Constitutional RightsJacob Weinrib (Queens University) has posted The Impasse of Constitutional Rights on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Constitutional rights are often seen as invitations to engage in all things considered... 003
Lisa Kerr @coleenlisa.bsky.social · 03/06/2025Dan is building a different defence firm, alongside brilliant Lindsay Board, *and* he also does meaningful work for students at his alma mater, @queensulaw.bsky.social. We will celebrate tomorrow in Toronto when he receives an alumni award! @colleenmflood.bsky.social lawandstyle.ca/news/rethink...lawandstyle.caRethinking the defence-law business modelDaniel Brown is on a mission to build a new kind of criminal-defence firm 031
Reposted by Lisa KerrRevue de droit d’Ottawa | Ottawa Law Review @rdo-olr.bsky.social · 31/03/2025We are proud to share the publication of the first article of 56:1 by @adelinaiftene.bsky.social and Allison Hearns! Read the full article in Volume 56, Issue 1 of the OLR! rdo-olr.org/sentencing-v... 012
Reposted by Lisa KerrColleen M. Flood @colleenmflood.bsky.social · 23/05/2025Marie Henein receives our honorary doctorate this year @queensulaw.bsky.social and gives a barn burner of a talk to our graduating Queen’s law students - calling on them to fight for justice in these difficult times. So much joy! 051
Lisa Kerr @coleenlisa.bsky.social · 23/05/2025Today was a great, great convocation @queensulaw.bsky.social. We honoured Marie Henein for all she has done for the legal system. She honoured us with her always powerful words and fearless way of being. @colleenmflood.bsky.social 0101
Lisa Kerr @coleenlisa.bsky.social · 17/05/2025Lisa Kelly told me to read this book and I know enough to listen to her. 40 pages in and my thinking is altered. Mandatory one for the legal profession: profs, students, judges alike. 061
Lisa Kerr @coleenlisa.bsky.social · 17/05/2025Oh man do I love this page in Harold Johnson’s book on his law school experience (hopefully a bit dated, but there are still some that fit ….) 021
Reposted by Lisa KerrCaroline Mandell 🇨🇦 @carolinemandell.bsky.social · 13/05/2025Writing is like parenting. Mostly self-doubt with flashes of triumph. 031
Lisa Kerr @coleenlisa.bsky.social · 15/05/2025Excited to see my wonderful colleague Colin Grey stepping away from the safety of the law school classroom (where mistakes have no consequences) up to the SCC podium for the first time in this one. 151
Lisa Kerr @coleenlisa.bsky.social · 13/05/2025Kingston brewpub to celebrate brilliant Paul Quick making SCC submissions today on prisoner access to habeas corpus. I’m so glad we exist in each other’s lives and not just on screens! Also he schooled them on the inadequacies of judicial review / the prisoner grievance system. 170
Lisa Kerr @coleenlisa.bsky.social · 11/05/2025Another big prison law case at SCC May 13. Paul Quick of Queen's Prison Clinic on for the John Howard Society @queensulaw.bsky.social Frank Dorsey & Ghassan Salah say habeas corpus should be available to prisoners denied transfer to lower security. Case is about warehousing + access to justice. 010
Lisa Kerr @coleenlisa.bsky.social · 09/05/2025Henceforth I see all of culture only as a source of possible law lecture hooks Jacob is too brilliant, it’s unfair I have to share students with him 050
Lisa Kerr @coleenlisa.bsky.social · 07/05/2025Crazy to have out of classroom writing assignments, for starters. Maybe we record content lectures and use in-class time for closed computer drafting and discussion. We can make changes people …. 010
Lisa Kerr @coleenlisa.bsky.social · 07/05/2025I don’t know who is funnier here, Proudfoot or Carney …. Both have some great lines. “what it looks like when an economist’s soul leaves his body out of self-preservation….” 020
Reposted by Lisa KerrAndré Picard @picardonhealth @picardonhealth.bsky.social · 06/05/2025Vancouver’s Lapu Lapu festival tragedy underscores the tension between mental health and criminal justice. Accused killer Kai-Ji Adam Lo needed an intervention -- but who was responsible for acting? by @picardonhealth.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti... via @theglobeandmail.comtheglobeandmail.comOpinion: Vancouver’s tragedy underscores the tension between mental health and criminal justiceKai-Ji Adam Lo needed an intervention - but who was responsible? 1124
Reposted by Lisa Kerrdebgski @debgski.bsky.social · 05/05/2025450% on would of, should of, could of 071