How should criminal courts account for the existence of systemic and pervasive anti-Black racism when sentencing Black offenders? This is the question that the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal (“NSCA”) grappled with in R v Anderson, 2021 NSCA 62 [Anderson]. More specifically, the appellate court examined how evidence from ‘Impact of Race and Culture Assessments’ […]
Introduction The Ontario Court of Appeal [“ONCA”] opens the case of R v Morris, 2021 ONCA 680 [“Morris”] with a revolutionary admission that “it is beyond doubt that anti-Black racism […] continues to be, a reality in Canadian society, and in particular the Greater Toronto Area” (Morris, para 1). The appellate court’s powerful declaration is […]
On February 11, 2021, the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) will hear the Crown’s appeal to Justice Shaun Nakatsuru’s decision in R v Morris, 2018 ONSC 5186 [Morris]. In his decision, Justice Nakatsuru used pre-sentencing reports on anti-Black racism and the social history of the defendant to account for the factor of systemic racism in […]