Reckoning with Racism: Police, Judges, and the RDS Case

The Supreme Court of Canada considered a complaint of judicial racial bias in 1997, involving a white Halifax police officer arresting a Black teenager. Judge Corrine Sparks acquitted the teen, but most white appeal judges critiqued her comments, leading to a debate about the legal system's non-racism. This book assesses the case, its impact, and its significance for the Canadian legal system.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 16 December 2022
Publisher: University of British Columbia Press

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 delves into 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. This sparked a widespread 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.

Dimension: 216 x 140 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780774868228