A follow up to our first podcast that analyzed the Impact R V. R.D.S has had on the Canadian criminal justice system,  the LSOU met with Mr. Rodney Smalls to talk to him about his experience with the Canadian criminal justice system and his current work. We were also joined by Andrew Luesley, a Legal Scholar and Ph.D. Candidate at Allard Law school .  About Rodney Rodney is a father, change maker, community builder, mentor, coach, and entrepreneur. Born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Rodney has established a passion for both its people and communities, working hard to help ensure those individuals and communities thrive and grow. As a graduate of Dalhousie’s Bachelor of Management program with a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship, Rodney uses his skills and expertise to engage people to identify innovative ways of dealing with social, cultural, and environmental issues that have affected the growth of the community. Rodney’s passion for the African Nova Scotian (ANS) community inspires his work, as it is here where he has developed many of the values and beliefs that are ingrained in his efforts. About Andrew Andrew is a Canadian legal scholar pursuing doctoral studies at Allard Law. His doctoral research programme is in the area of Law & Technology with a focus on Blockchain and Private Commercial Law. His research seeks to answer how common law and equitable tools can be used to provide compensation to victims of fraud effectuated using smart contracts. Andrew Master’s thesis, “Playing the race card: Racial bias in judicial decision-making” makes note of Rodney’s story.

In this episode, Candace Nguyen discusses the case of R v. R.D.S; systemic  racism within the Canadian context; legal realism and contextualized  judging; criminal record suspensions and accessibility of justice; and  Black Lives Matter. R v. R.D.S: https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1549/index.do Are arbitrators human?: https://doi.org/10.1111/jels.12129 Playing the race card: racial bias in judicial decision making: https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0357145