Professors

New book by U of T law professor Kent Roach examines the injustice of wrongful convictions in Canada

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 21 Apr 2023 19:46:27 +0000

New book by U of T law professor Kent Roach examines the injustice of wrongful convictions in Canada

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 04/21/2023 - 15:46

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In his latest book, U of T law professor Kent Roach outlines Canada's history of of wrongful convictions and how the legal system can better safeguard justice (photo of Roach by Faculty of Law)

Nina Haikara

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Kent Roach, a professor in the Faculty of Law at the ��Ƶ, has spent decades sounding the alarm on wrongful convictions in Canada.

His new research underlines the dangers of wrongful convictions based on false guilty pleas or imagined crimes that never happened.

“In judgments, the courts recite ‘the facts’ – but sometimes the legal system gets ‘the facts’ wrong, and the wrongfully convicted and their families suffer as a result,” Roach says.

His latest book – Wrongfully Convicted: Guilty Pleas, Imagined Crimes, and What Canada Must Do to Safeguard Justice – bookends his trilogy on Canada’s criminal justice system with previously published books on Canadian policing and the case that saw Gerald Stanley acquitted in the 2018 killing of Colten Boushie.

All three books, published in the span of less than five years, strongly advocate for policy change and reform.

Roach's 2019 book Canadian Justice Indigenous Injustice was shortlisted for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for political writing. And Canadian Policing: Why and How It Must Change, published last year, was a finalist for both the Balsillie and Donner prizes for public policy books.

His books also grapple with injustice towards Indigenous people in Canada’s justice system.

“Wrongful convictions affect the so-called ‘usual suspects’ – and in Canada, the ‘usual suspects’ are too often Indigenous, racialized, socio-economically marginalized or suffering with mental health challenges,” Roach says.

Another thread in his work is the necessity of police reform. He says police can still use aggressive and deceitful ways of questioning suspects that are not always prohibited by judicial regulation of police interrogation techniques.

Roach adds that one of the lessons to be learned from Wrongfully Convicted is that police should not be so aggressive when interviewing people who are vulnerable, have cognitive challenges, or are suffering from addiction or mental health issues. He notes that police need to consider alternative suspects and be aware of stereotypes that associate groups and individuals with crime.

“Police are subject to a very natural human tendency of zeroing-in on a suspect and interpreting evidence so that it confirms the suspect's guilt – while disregarding evidence that points in another direction, such as an alternative suspect,” he says.

Though not perfect, computerized case-management tools can help, Roach says, adding such tools are currently underutilized but can provide case-linkage and analysis to help guard against tunnel vision or confirmation bias.

“If we wait for the courts to correct these errors, it's too late. The courts alone cannot produce good policing.”

In 2007, Roach was appointed research director of Ontario’s public inquiry into systemic concerns in pediatric forensic pathology in the wake of revelations that former forensic pathologist Charles Smith had performed flawed child autopsies that resulted in wrongful convictions.

Amanda Carling (photo by Jesse Johnston)

In Wrongfully Convicted, Roach revisits the cases that were the result of Smith’s misleading forensic evidence. A section of the book examines ‘imagined crimes’ that never happened – such crimes constitute one-third of the wrongful convictions recorded in the Canadian Registry of Wrongful Convictions that Roach co-founded with Métis lawyer Amanda Carling, a 2012 graduate of the JD program at U of T's Faculty of Law.

Roach and Carling co-taught a seminar on wrongful convictions at U of T, which led to the development of the registry.

“Smith had suspicions directed towards young, single mothers and racialized men. The system, which is designed to be a check on mere suspicions, didn't stop Smith's,” Roach says.

He notes there are more recent cases of ‘imagined crime’ wrongful convictions. In fact, three more cases involving such imagined crimes will soon be added to the registry with the help of U of T JD alumni Jessie Stirling, Joel Voss and Sarah Harland-Logan.

The registry was launched this past February with 83 cases. The three new cases will bring the total to 86 – two cases involved Black parents wrongfully convicted in the death of their child and another case of a woman with intellectual challenges who is unhoused.

Roach explains that both the registry and his new book are designed to raise awareness that wrongful convictions are not just a historical or U.S. problem.

“I want Canadians to know that we too have problems in our criminal justice system. The registry is just the tip of the iceberg," he says.

"The real question is, how large is the iceberg? We really won’t know that until we have a better system than we do now.”

Earlier this year, just days before the registry’s launch, the federal government introduced legislation to create a federal commission to review potential cases of wrongful conviction.

Roach led the research on A Miscarriages of Justice Commission report in November 2021, which advocated for the creation of an independent federal commission to consider cases of wrongful conviction.

He says the announcement of a permanent federal commission to investigate allegations of wrongful convictions is an important next step in addressing the issue.

Roach notes that the proposed commission will need to be properly funded and staffed to be able to help people, and will need to be made aware of the realities of wrongful convictions – including false guilty pleas and crimes that never happened.

"We also need to find a way to compensate the wrongfully convicted more quickly and humanely for the terrible injustices done, in all our names," he says.

“It's a long, hard climb to reverse or remedy a wrongful conviction."

Ten U of T social media stars to follow

Romi Levine — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 22:06:26 +0000

Ten U of T social media stars to follow

Romi Levine Mon, 02/06/2017 - 17:06

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U of T has many interesting faculty, students and alumni who offer interesting takes on politics, life and the economy (photo by ThoroughlyReviewed.com via Flickr)

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��Ƶ's sharpest minds and wittiest wordsmiths are taking to Twitter, Instagram and YouTube to share their expert insights and unique perspectives with communities inside and outside the university.

Here are just a few to follow:

Sabrina Cruz NerdyAndQuirky

Even before her first year at U of T, Cruz was a YouTube star. The Schulich Leader has over 100,000 subscribers and millions of views.

Follow if: you like funny takes on pop culture, history and science

Dr. Mike Evans DocMikeEvans

Evans is an associate professor at ��Ƶ's medical school. His popular YouTube videos on health education attracted the likes of Apple who recruited him to work on a digital health care project.

Follow if: you want to learn more about health and wellness in a fun and entertaining way

Danielle Martin @docdanielle

Martin, an author and assistant professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, tweets about big ideas around innovation in health and medicine.

Follow if: you’re interested in learning how to make health care better

Jonathan Sun @jonnysun

Engineering alumnus Sun is a jack of all trades but is best known for his odd, yet hilarious, Twitter account which has inspired him to write a book.

Follow if: you need a good old-fashioned laugh

why do birds
suddenly appear
every time
you are near
just like me
they long to be
creeping u out with their beady eyes
— jomny sun (@jonnysun) January 17, 2017

Renée Hložek @reneehlozek

Astrophysics professor Hložek takes to Twitter for insight into our place in the universe.

Follow if: you’re into space talk and social justice

Aisha Ahmad @ProfAishaAhmad

Ahmad, an assistant professor at U of T Scarborough’s department of political science and the Munk School of Global Affairs, weighs in on the most pressing issues facing Canada and the U.S.

Follow if: you want thoughtful insight and good reads on the latest news

Adrian Phiffer @officeofadrianphiffer

Architect and lecturer at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design uses Instagram as a way of showcasing the work of his design firm while highlighting the creativity of his students.

Jeffrey Dvorkin @jdvorkin

At a time when the media is considered the official “opposition” by the Trump administration, commentary from people like Dvorkin, director of the journalism program at U of T Scarborough, is all the more important.

Follow if: you care about the future of journalism and freedom of the press

Joshua Gans @joshgans

Gans, Jeffrey S. Skoll Chair of Technical Innovation and Entrepreneurship and professor of strategic management at U of T's Rotman School of Management, offers a snarky take on business and current affairs.

Follow if: you like to smirk while reading the latest on the Trump saga

Sarah Kaplan @sarah_kaplan

As director of the Institute for Gender and the Economy, Rotman School of Management Professor Kaplan takes on the worlds of business and equality and the ways they intersect.

Follow if: you’re fired up from the Women’s March

Do you have a favourite U of T tweeter, YouTuber or instagrammer? Let us know!

(photo at top by ThoroughlyReviewed.com via Flickr)

U of T celebrates exemplary teaching

ullahnor — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 16:41:34 +0000

U of T celebrates exemplary teaching

ullahnor Wed, 11/16/2016 - 11:41

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U of T's Jonathan Rose (left) Alison Gibbs and James D. Thomson (right) are the recipients of the 2016 President's Teaching Award

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One tries to make sense of the world through statistics. The other is a coding wiz. And the third focuses on explaining the relationship between plants and animals.

Alison Gibbs, an associate professor (teaching stream) in the department of statistical sciences; Jonathan Rose, a professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering; and James D. Thomson, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, received the 2016 President's Teaching Award – the ��Ƶ's highest honour for excellence in teaching.

While the three come from different backgrounds, they share a devotion to their students.

“It’s not about teaching. It’s about learning,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs and Thomson are from the Faculty of Arts & Science. Rose is from the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. All three were honoured Tuesday night at a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the first university-wide teaching award. U of T President Meric Gertler and Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr presented the awards.

President Meric Gertler (right) and Provost Cheryl Regehr (left) present Professor James D. Thomson with the award (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Thomson co-teaches an introductory biology course on adaptation and biodiversity that is so popular that enrolment often exceeds the seats in Convocation Hall. To accomodate the 1,900 students who typically sign up, the class has morning and evening sessions.

Thomson has also taken students as far as Vietnam to study flowers and pollinators, and he wrote a textbook called The Struggle for Existence, a nod to Charles Darwin.

Known for his dry sense of humour, he tries not to recycle jokes for students.

“If some little witticism occurs to me while I’m phrasing a sentence, I’m willing to take a bit of a flier and throw it in. Usually, those pretty much fall flat,” he said with a laugh.

Professors

New book by U of T law professor Kent Roach examines the injustice of wrongful convictions in Canada

Ten U of T social media stars to follow

Sabrina Cruz NerdyAndQuirky

Dr. Mike Evans DocMikeEvans

Danielle Martin @docdanielle

Jonathan Sun @jonnysun

Renée Hložek @reneehlozek

Aisha Ahmad @ProfAishaAhmad

Adrian Phiffer @officeofadrianphiffer

Jeffrey Dvorkin @jdvorkin

Joshua Gans @joshgans

Sarah Kaplan @sarah_kaplan

U of T celebrates exemplary teaching

Read more about Thomson

Read more about Rose

Read more about Gibbs

Read more about the President's Teaching Award