Case Analysis: Trinity Western v. Law Society of Upper Canada
In the following court case between Trinity Western University v. The Law Society of Upper Canada, Judges MacPherson, Cronk, and Pardu JJ, at the Ontario Court of Appeal, determine whether to grant accreditation to a private Christian University, that wants to open its own law school. The three-judge panel analyzes the Law Society of Upper Canada’s (LSUC) decision to not accredit Trinity Western’s proposed law facility, which took place in April 2014. The judges consider the Charter rights at stake, as well as the LSUC’s mandate. The case of TWU v. LSUC will be thoroughly examined, with a specific focus on key concepts that influence law-making, such as social development and change,
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As Trinity Western appealed to the Divisional Court for judicial review, the Divisional Court upheld the LSUC’s decision to deny accreditation. The appeal relied heavily on the Charter, specifically regarding balancing the right to equality and TWU’s right to freedom of association as well as freedom of religion. The LSUC has the authority to grant licenses to practice law in Ontario, as no person can practice law in Ontario without it. The LSUC is responsible for not only ensuring that lawyers practicing in Ontario satisfy a certain degree of conduct, as indicated in section 4.1. of the Law Society Act, but that public interest is also being attended to, which is displayed in section 4.2. LSUC also holds the authority to grant accreditation to law schools ((TWU v. LSUC, 2016). The LSUC must consider the public interest, particularly, TWU’s community covenant and its impact on the LGBTQ community. Additionally, the LSUC must also balance the Charter rights of religion and equality, and it must decipher whether it’s decision not to accredit TWU’s proposed law school is reasonable. The Divisional Court upheld LSUC’s decision to not accredit TWU’s law school. The reasons for the following decision are albeit TWU’s freedom of religion rights are infringed upon, the LSUC has a duty to consider the public impact of accrediting a law school, and accrediting a law school that inherently has discriminatory policies was not in the interest of the public. The LSUC proportionately balanced TWU’s freedom of religion and the right to equality, and it was concluded that it was a reasonable limit to breach religious right’s, as it was of more importance to advocate for the right to equal treatment and access to
The supreme court case of Trinity Lutheran Church vs. Comer, is a case in which the supreme court of the United States of America held a Missouri Program that denied funding to religious groups that would be used for profane purposes, that is provided to non-religious groups violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of religion. “The Trinity Lutheran Church Child Learning Center is a Missouri preschool and daycare center. Originally established as a nonprofit organization, the Center later merged with Trinity Lutheran Church and now operates under its auspices on church property.” The Trinity Lutheran v. Comer case finds that governments can not discriminate against churches that would otherwise qualify for funding just because
The respondent The Law Society of Upper Canada was created in 1797 to provide support and preserve the constitution of the province of upper Canada. Since its establishment, the Law Society of Upper Canada has been the one and only authority available for determining who is eligible to practice law in Ontario, and the requirements associated with
Elizabeth Olson’s article, “Law Graduate Gets Her Day in Court, Suing Law School” (2016), contends that by posting misleading information about post-graduation employment, many law schools are damaging students’ futures by failing to provide a guarantee of a full-time job as a lawyer and burying them in debts. Olson develops her claim by describing the case of Anna Alaburda, a former law student whose case against her law school is going to trial after five years, acknowledging law schools’ stance on the issue, and listing examples of similar cases that failed to favor the law students. Her purpose is to reveal the unfair consequences of false advertising in order to raise awareness of a common problem amongst law students and to force a change
Following this public speech qualified as disruptive, vulgar and obscene, according to the school’s rules, Fraser will be suspended for two days and his name will be removed from a graduation ceremony speakers’ list. Based on these aforementioned facts, Fraser’s father, supported the American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU) will file a lawsuit against the school for violating the First Amendment right to freedom of speech of his son, Matthew Fraser, and will ask for a monetary reparation against the prejudice. As a consequence of this lawsuit, the issue will be discussed, first, before a Federal District Court. Over there, the judge will give a verdict favorable to Fraser on the ground that the
The ruling made by Chief Justice John Marshall in the1803 court case Marbury v. Madison was consider significance because it established the power of the judicial branch with the principle that the Supreme Court may declare an act of Congress void if it is considered inconsistent with the United States Constitution. This means that the court has the power to decide which laws are considered constitutional in what is referred to as judicial review. Judicial review in the courts, states that the judicial branch can review laws created by the legislative branch and establish if they are constitutional or not. The separation of power provided a type of check and balance to insure that no one branch in the government hold all the power and that
Most states implement expunged laws; at the age of twenty-seven juveniles can have their record expunged. The purpose of the law is to allow juveniles become adults without having a criminal record. In the case of Docket No. 105833 People v. Smith, 448 NW2d 794, Michigan Supreme Court (1989), during the presentence investigation into Ricky Franklin Smith he was indicted on charges as an adolescent. Smith plead guilty to breaking and entering; the career criminal past decisions resulted in his incarceration.
In 2003, the Supreme Court of Canada agreed with the Plaintiff and deemed that the revised s.51(e) was unconstitutional because it did in fact violate the Charter.
In Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (“Fisher II”), the United States Supreme Court will decide the constitutionality of the University of Texas’s (“University”) affirmative action policy, the impact of which is being widely debated. Some commentators fear that the Court is poised to end affirmative action altogether, thus causing reduction in the number of minorities who are admitted to universities across the country. Others believe that the Court should use Fisher II to invalidate all race-conscious policies and endorse a color-blind admissions process. Such concerns, and the expectations of those who would like to see affirmative action eliminated, are overstated. A careful analysis of the issues in Fisher II, including the Justices’
In 1982 the Canadian Constitution was patriated in Canada, and with it came the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a document that set out to create a just society with liberty and justice for all (3). This new constitutional document however, may not be the beacon for social justice that it has been trumped up to seem. In Joel Bakan’s book, “Just Words: Constitutional Rights and Social Wrong,” he argues that the document is inherently flawed because it is enforced through the means of conservative institutions (3). In this book review I argue that the book does an effective job critiquing the Charter. The paper will be formatted in the following way.
MILLERSBURG — Despite a plea for leniency expressed by the victim, a Sugarcreek man was unable to overcome a long history of criminal convictions and a bond violation when a Holmes County judge on Wednesday sentenced him to prison for making unwanted phone calls and threats to several members of a family over a period of months. David Lamar Schrock, 43, of 2578 State Route 39, previously pleaded guilty in Holmes County Common Pleas Court to two counts of telephone harassment and one count of menacing by stalking. In exchange for his guilty plea, the state agreed to dismiss two additional counts of telephone harassment and three counts of menacing by stalking. The charges are made more serious because Schrock was convicted, in January 2016,
“The students alleged that Westside 's refusal violated the Equal Access Act, which requires that schools in receipt of federal funds provide "equal access" to student groups seeking to express "religious, political, philosophical, or other content" messages” (Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens by and Through Mergens). Many still argue today that Westside 's prohibition against the Christian club, consistent with the Establishment Clause, makes the Equal Access Act unconstitutional.
Before this case, people of the black community couldn 't go to college and they would settle for inferior. They weren 't even allowed to be interviewed for college as they were viewed as inferior as the titles they carried. Allan Bakke wanted to go medical school, but that was pretty difficult considering they didn 't even begin to consider letting him in. He filed a suit after his shocking revelation and the Supreme Court ordered the college to let him in, after which the college appealed to the court. The court accepted and the verdict came to this:"
In 1991, an African American man named Anthony Wright confessed to the rape, robbery, and brutal murder of a 77-year-old woman. However, he later retracted his confession, asserting that it had been coerced by police, and requested DNA testing on the evidence prove his innocence. Despite his ardent attempts to reclaim his innocence, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania rejected the request based on the simple fact that he had previously confessed to the crime, which therefore prevented him from being able to claim his innocence (Commonwealth v. Wright, 2007). On behalf of Wright’s case, in 2008 the American Psychological Association filed an amicus curiae brief that described the many possible causes of false confessions and their role in wrongful convictions. In 2011, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recognized that, although a confession may be admitted during trial, it does not necessarily mean that the confession was true.
The written story of how Clarence Earl Gideon, a poor Florida man, went from a convicted criminal to ultimately redefining legal history is astounding. The Supreme Court commonly dismisses more cases than it accepts and the fact that a handwritten petition from a prison inmate was accepted shows that even the seemingly most insignificant person can make a difference in our society. The book’s literature is highly legalistic but constantly provides a detailed account of how the judicial system is constructed. Coming from a regular college student standpoint with no previous formal law education, this makes the underlying concept easier to grasp. The story’s setting during the time of the Gideon case, showed how the legal system was constructed towards the growing concept of a defendant’s rights.
Court cases are common in the United States, they always have been. Many even become headline material, for any number of reasons. During, and even before, the Civil Rights movement, many court cases were fought and won for the oppressed races of America, from the Blacks to the Native Americans, the Asian peoples and the Mexican immigrants. The Civil Rights movement saw plenty of action in the streets from activists, but the truly important part of the Movement, what won equal rights for all races, was the legal battles fought in the background. We’ll start with one of the most important actions of the Movement and what made it possible.