Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Alan Young was quoted in a story published in The Squamish Chief Aug. 29 about the case of Amina Chaudhary, a convicted child-killer found guilty of first-degree murder in the 1982 slaying of her ex-lover’s eight-year-old nephew, who has spent decades challenging her conviction and is now seeking day parole. Her case spawned a campaign for the preservation of evidence after photo exhibits that Chaudhary’s supporters believe might help prove her innocence seemed to vanish. “The best recourse she had for vindication has pretty much been taken away,” said Young. The school’s chapter of the Innocence Project took Chaudhary as its first case and has since referenced her situation in an application that would force law enforcement to keep exhibits in murder cases unless the inmate gives permission to destroy them. Read full story.
Time to close federal conflict of interest loophole
An accountability watchdog is calling for tighter conflict of interest laws as one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s top officials faces questions about whether he used his prominent position to help further the financial interests of friends, reported Global News online edition Aug. 29. “You don’t want to be having meetings with people where your name is going to be all over the front page of the papers,” said York political science Professor Ian Greene. “It will lead to embarrassment even if there is no conflict of interest.” Read full story.