It’s a Tuesday morning, and I’m sitting in courtroom 302 of the Halifax Supreme Court watching two prisoners, Geevan Nagendran and Tyquan Downey, face the lawyer for the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility (Burnside). I text Hanna Garson, “I’m watching the most upsetting habeas in court right now.” She texts back, “what courtroom?” Two minutes […]
We’ll get around to that climate emergency eventually
Morning File, Thursday March 7, 2019
News 1. Court This is an abbreviated Morning File because I have to be at the Supreme Court at 9am. I’m going to court to join the CBC and the Canadian Press in their efforts to rescind the sealing order in the Glen Assoun case. That order was issued by Justice Chipman on October 23, […]
Nova Scotian forests: the Scottish model
Morning File, Wednesday, April 18, 2018
News 1. The McNeils and the information non-breach scandal Robin McNeil. Photo: HRPD Stephen McNeil. Photo: Halifax Examiner Chris McNeil. Photo: CBC It’s anyone’s guess what caused the over-the-top police response to the non-breach of the Freedom of Information website, but it’s worth noting that Premier Stephen McNeil is brother of Halifax deputy police chief […]
The Randy Riley trial: how news media are falling down on the job
Dropping coverage of a court trial mid-trial is a disservice both for readers and for justice.
Last Tuesday, there was dramatic moment in Supreme Court, worthy of its own Law & Order episode. In the course of its prosecution of Randy Riley for the 2010 murder of Chad Smith, the crown called its witness Nathan Johnson. Johnson took the stand and — bam! — said that he, and he alone, killed […]