Episode 17: Gender/Sexuality and the Law

Welcome et bienvenue to LegalEase: a monthly Montreal-based and produced radio show on 90.3 FM CKUT. We broadcast law broadly. Le collectif LegalEase est un group des étudiants et étudiantes en droit de la communauté montréalaise. This episode is entitled, “Gender/Sexuality and the Law.” Listen to the show here.

LegalEase’s Preeti speaks with Ponni Arasu is a Delhi-based lawyer and queer feminist activist involved with the Voices Against 377, a broad coalition that successfully fought to decriminalize homosexuality in India. She has also been active in Bangalore’s Alternative law Forum.

Next, LegalEase contributor Meena Gupta brings us legal historian Constance Backhouse (University of Ottawa) on the first “Lesbian Sexual Assault” case in Canada, in 1955 Yellowknife. For more, see her work: Carnal Crimes: Sexual Assault Law in Canada, 1900-1975.

Third, LegalEase sits down with Me. Anne France Goldwater about the Lola case. The court of appeal decision makes common-law couples are entitled to spousal support upon the break-down of the marriage.

Finally, Phillip Duguay gets the views of Tara, sex worker advocate, on the recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision, Bedford v. Canada.

Tune in live every second Friday of every month from 11h00-12h00 on CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal or listen on-line at www.ckut.ca. For more programming, check us out at http://legaleaseckut.wordpress.com

“From Tortia With Love”: Creativity and Law School Summaries

Hello cruel and curious world:

For those interested in Tort law – or extra-contractual law (as we call it at McGill) – take a look at this summary. It is a comic book. Two creative students put it together and made it available to everyone without cost. It covers some of the rudimentary subjects in Canadian tort law, in both common and civil law. You can download the pdf here.

Isn't this neat?

For those who don’t know – most law students do not do all the readings. Intricate systems of summarizing cases are devised for each course. Sometimes a compilation is a group effort. In the case above, it was done by a team. Usually, a summary is adapted from some earlier version of the course (and some earlier summary) and updated based on the new readings and slightly altered lecture notes. In some cases, summaries enable students to either a) skip class or b) spend the entire class browsing facebook.

If you do go to law school, take your time to venture beyond the bland commonplace – use your talents to create interesting study tools. It will help you learn better and will make you proud of your work, despite whatever grade you may receive (and odds are, you probably will learn the material better in the process).