: Prison law is characterized by judicial deference to penal administrators. Despite the well-documented horrors that occur behind prison walls, federal and state courts often decline to intervene, asserting, among other things, that prisoners’ rights are limited and that the judicial branch lacks the power and expertise to get involved in the inner workings of detention facilities. Moreover, jurists often assume that the nation’s firstcourts largely stayed out of prisons and jails, and contemporary judicial deference is therefore historically rooted. The post The Forgotten History of Prison Law: Judicial Oversight of Detention Facilities in the Nation’s Early Years appeared first on Harvard Law Review
: This paper is part of a larger, multi-year project looking at representation, efficiency and outcomes in Ontario’s provincial court [1] . As outlined in an earlier Slaw piece on this project (“Using Representation Pathways to Explore Court Data” , October 2025), several parts of this research are ongoing. The paper highlights the “representation pathways” idea, which is being explored as a methodological tool and as a way of better understanding the experience of accused persons in the provincial criminal court system. The research is being carried out using an appearance-based database from the Ontario Court of Justice (OCJ). The data . . . [more] The post It Depends on How You Ask the Question: The True Number of Unrepresented Accused in the Ontario Court of Justice appeared first on Slaw
: Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from more than 80 recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible. This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. Double Aspect 2. Civil Resolution Tribunal blog 3. David Whelan 4. Know How 5. The Court Double Aspect How Power Corrupts VI In years past, I had an occasional series of posts going to address the various meanings and implications of “Lord Acton’s Dictum” — power tends . . . [more] The post Monday’s Mix appeared first on Slaw
: UT ref: UA-2026-000083-PIP In the Upper Tribunal Administrative Appeals Chamber 28 October 2026 Before: Stewart Wright Judge of the Upper Tribunal Between: LC -v- Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Anonymity Order Appellant: LC Respondents: Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Tribunal: First tier Tribunal (Social Entitlement Chamber) Tribunal venue: Scarborough Tribunal Case Nos: SC231/24/00181 Tribunal decision date: 29 August 2025 NOTICE: Any breach of this order is liable to be treated as a contempt of court and may be punishable by imprisonment, fine or other sanctions under section 25 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. The maximum punishment that may be imposed is a sentence of two years’ imprisonment or an unlimited fine. It is ordered , under rule 14(1)(b) of the Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal Rules) 2008, that, without the permission of this Tribunal, no one shall disclose or publish the name, or any part of the address, of the appellant in these proceedings or publish [...]
: This article belongs to the debate » Thinking Machines, Thinking Lawyers14 October 2026The (Currently) Uneven Intelligence of AI in Comparative Constitutional Law From Years of Research to a Single Prompt? Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to accelerate and improve the quality of research. This potential has inspired numerous projects exploring how AI could help scholarship on constitutional law. For example, there is research using AI to interpret constitutions,1) apply constitutional principles,2) and predict court rulings.3) Even the question of whether AI could improve the process of constitution-making has been studied.4) AI’s potential is particularly significant for comparative constitutional research. Systematically comparing legal systems requires locating sources from different jurisdictions, which are often difficult to access and only available in local languages. The creation of comparative legal datasets has thus involved considerable personnel, time, and financial resources. AI ca[...]
: Officials in Florida are urging a federal judge to dismiss UPSIDE Food's (UPSIDE) constitutional challenge to the state's cultivated meat ban, SB 1084 , arguing that the company's claim is vague and unsubstantiated. UPSIDE claims that the ban was enacted for discriminatory purposes in violation of the Dormant Commer Clause. The company's complaint cites to public comments made by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida Ag Commissioner Wilton Simpson that claimed the out-of-state cultivated meat industry threatens Florida's in-state conventional meat and agricultural industries. UPSIDE argues that these comments demonstrate Florida's sole intent in enacting the ban was to protect the state's cattle industry. While the court previously denied UPSIDE's motion for a preliminary injunction and rejected its claim that the Poultry Products Inspection Act preempted the law, as we reported last year , it allowed the company to proceed with its constitutional challenges to the law. Florida's SB 1084, the nation's fi[...]
: The French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication, Having regard to the French intellectual property code , in particular article L. 331-12 ; Having regard to the French Sports Code , in particular article L.333-10 ; After due deliberation, Adopts the following notice: The year 2025 marked a turning point in the fight against sports broadcasting piracy, with increased involvement of various types of intermediaries, under the impetus of sports rights holders, as part of the dynamic injunctions issued under article L. 333-10 of the French Sports Code . In addition to the legal actions involving Internet Service Providers (ISPs), which have been fully integrated into the scheme since 2022, and in order to strengthen the effectiveness of the blocking measures implemented, rights holders have extended their legal actions, from 2023, to search engine operators, who play a key role as central players in the diffusion of information on the internet and in directing users to sports-related con[...]
: CALL member Erica Friesen, Research and Instruction Librarian & Online Learning Specialist at the Lederman Law Library at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario recently wrote an article on " Thoughts on the New Lexis+ Brief Analysis Tool: For Law Students and Novice Researchers ". It originally appeared on Slaw.ca on September 28, 2022. It is republished here with permission of the author. New academic year; new legal research tools. Something new always comes out right as another cohort of students is gearing up to begin their law degree. And, as with many new product launches these days, “artificial intelligence” is often a prominently displayed term with accompanying materials. As legal publishers continue to launch AI-driven research tools in Canada, what do students and other novice researchers need to know to be prepared for their first forays into legal research? Lexis recently launched the latest version of their legal research platform, Lexis+ Canada, for Canadian law schools. It features signific[...]
: By: Susannah Tredwell , Manager of Library Services at DLA Piper (Canada) LLP and James Bachmann , Instructional Librarian, Law Library, University of British Columbia Since 1988, when CALL/ACBD’s Copyright Committee was first set up, CALL/ACBD has advocated for its members' interests in the area of copyright. While the primary focus of CALL/ACBD’s copyright advocacy over the last few years has been on Crown copyright and primary law, CALL/ACBD has also made submissions about such areas as fair dealing and licencing. CALL/ACBD sees this work as not only supporting the needs of its members but also as serving the interests of access to justice as a whole. Continuing this work, on January 18, 2022 CALL/ACBD, along with Library Futures Institute, will act as an intervener in the Supreme Court of Canada case Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, et al. v. Entertainment Software Association, et al. Kim Nayyer, CALL/ACBD’s President, and Robert Janes of JFK Law will be representing CALL[...]
: New data from the Federal Trade Commission reveal that people reported losing a staggering $3.5 billion to imposter scams in 2025, with reported losses increasing nearly three times since 2020. FTC data also show that people reported imposter scams more than any other fraud category in 2025—nearly one in three fraud reports were about imposter scams. These scams lured consumers through text, phone, email, social media, search engine results and other means. Some of the costliest impersonation scams start with a fake security alert, often from a bank. People are convinced to move money to “protect” it, with their losses often limited only by their available funds. Last year, people reported losing nearly $1 billion to business impersonators with the highest reported losses to bank impersonators—and about $920 million to government impersonators, up from $866 million and $789 million respectively in 2024. The FTC has seen a striking increase in reported fraud losses to all types of fraud—about $16 billion was [...]