Category Archives: Books

Book Review – Without Honour: The True Story of the Shafia Family and the Kingston Canal Murders by Rob Tripp

Posted on May 23, 2013 by

[Originally posted at Canadian Lawyer] “My children did a lot of cruelty toward me.” – Mohammad Shafia, testifying at his trial for murdering his first wife and three daughters His daughters’ “cruelty” manifested itself in several ways: wearing revealing and immodest … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Child Welfare, Criminal Law, Family Law, Media | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Charlie and the Angels: The Outlaws, the Hells Angels and the Sixty Years War

Posted on March 21, 2013 by

[originally posted at Canadian Lawyer] A one-percenter is the one of a hundred of us who has given up on society and the politician’s one-way laws. This is why we look repulsive. We are saying we don’t want to be like … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Criminal Law | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Book review: A Cruel Arithmetic: Inside the Case Against Polygamy by Craig Jones

Posted on January 22, 2013 by

[Originally posted at Canadian Lawyer] When s. 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada was referred to the British Columbia Supreme Court, I wrote that I believed the law was clearly unconstitutional in its current form: If this case was about legal recognition … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Canadian Politics, Family Law, Freedom of Religion, Human Rights, Marriage, Polygamy | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book review: “From the Closet to the Altar”

Posted on October 7, 2012 by

[Originally posted at Canadian Lawyer] In 1957, a prominent American group denounced homosexuality as “socially heretical or deviant,” and determined that laws against it posed no constitutional problems. That organization: the American Civil Liberties Union. For years thereafter, “sodomy” was a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Human Rights, Same-Sex Marriage | 1 Comment

Review: “You Can’t Read This Book” by Nick Cohen

Posted on March 19, 2012 by

(Originally posted, in slightly different form, at Canadian Lawyer) Britain’s plaintiff-friendly libel laws are so infamous, they’ve even inspired a gag on South Park.  In the notorious “Trapped in the Closet” episode, young Stan Marsh – thought to be the reincarnation of … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Freedom of Expression, Human Rights, Media | Leave a comment

Review – The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion by Hugh B. Urban

Posted on September 19, 2011 by

[A version of this review originally appeared at CanadianLawyerMag.com.] An academic history of the Church of Scientology might not seem relevant to lawyers, unless you’re familiar with the controversial movement’s use of the justice system against its many detractors. Founder … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Freedom of Religion, Human Rights, Intellectual Property, Media | 1 Comment

Book review: “The Road to Fatima Gate,” by Michael J. Totten

Posted on April 10, 2011 by

[Originally posted, in slightly different form, at Blogcritics.org.  An excerpt is available here.] Canada was once described as “two nations warring in the bosom of a single state,” but that description fits the tragic Mediterranean state of Lebanon much more closely. … Continue reading →

Posted in Books | 1 Comment

Book Review: Things I’ve Learned from Watching the Browns

Posted on February 16, 2011 by

[Originally posted at Blogcritics.com] Of 32 teams in the National Football League, four have never made it to the Super Bowl. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans are expansion teams of fairly recent vintage. The Detroit Lions are, well, the … Continue reading →

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Danny Williams: The War With Ottawa

Posted on January 17, 2011 by

My latest book review for Canadian Lawyer has been posted.  Bill Rowe’s account of his experiences as Newfoundland and Labrador’s “ambassador” to Ottawa, while Danny Williams and Paul Martin feuded over equalization payments and offshore oil revenues, doesn’t do enough … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Canadian Politics, Newfoundland and Labrador | 1 Comment