tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86538575750349759332024-03-19T03:48:14.103-04:00JuriscultureExploring Law, Culture and MediaDr. Amar Khodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12112721819346797142noreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8653857575034975933.post-85485943739137111312021-08-16T13:00:00.003-04:002021-08-16T13:24:28.950-04:00'To Seek Justice’: The Mauritanian and Prosecutorial Responsibilities<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Films and other creative mediums can bring much-needed
attention to significant legal issues. In my previous <a href="http://www.jurisculture.net/2021/07/everybody-has-right-to-counsel.html">post</a>,
I explored how the film, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4761112/"><i>The
Mauritanian</i></a> highlights the importance of the legal right to counsel. Building
on this, the film also offers other important insights, including with respect
to the roles and responsibilities of prosecutors. In serious cases such as
those involving allegations of terrorist activity, there is typically immense pressure
on prosecutors to obtain convictions. These pressures trigger vital concerns
about the strategies and tactics government lawyers (and interrogators) might
employ to secure a conviction. What are some ethical limits and considerations
on prosecutorial conduct? Can prosecutors use whatever methods they see fit to
prosecute a suspected terrorist? For example, can they withhold information
from an accused? Can and should prosecutors seek to admit evidence secured
through torture? <i>The Mauritanian </i>illustrates some of these concerns
raised by these questions.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6-djQYGt2K7fPdoA_lQNGLZ0r8dvjFjuf4TYqneg3ZSFZjQfiHc8bMelMwmJ_BWA4UDoP4Q9-T1HeE3j5Tajbks_mcEb0rbSDm8B1j_-uc3pURJhV2LVv_VZTr4uGyYE60L8j1U-4RAw/s1272/Screen+Shot+2021-07-26+at+11.13.50+AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1272" data-original-width="866" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6-djQYGt2K7fPdoA_lQNGLZ0r8dvjFjuf4TYqneg3ZSFZjQfiHc8bMelMwmJ_BWA4UDoP4Q9-T1HeE3j5Tajbks_mcEb0rbSDm8B1j_-uc3pURJhV2LVv_VZTr4uGyYE60L8j1U-4RAw/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-07-26+at+11.13.50+AM.png" width="218" /></a></div><br /> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To recap, the film depicts <a href="https://canongate.co.uk/contributors/10140-mohamedou-ould-slahi/">Mohamedou
Ould Slahi</a>’s harrowing experiences (including torture) as a prisoner who
was detained at the United States military detention facility in Guantanamo
Bay, and his protracted legal battle to be freed from custody.[1]
Slahi (portrayed by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2588665/">Tahar Rahim</a>)
spent <b><i>over a decade</i></b> in detention and was finally released in
2016. He was first taken into custody in 2001, and then detained in Jordan,
Afghanistan and finally, Guantanamo Bay. His eventual release was due in no
small effort to the tremendous pro bono work of his legal counsel, <a href="https://fbdlaw.com/our-attorneys/nancy-hollander/">Nancy Hollander</a>
(played by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000149/">Jodie Foster</a>) and
<a href="http://www.duncanearnest.com/theresa-m-duncan.html">Teri Duncan</a> (depicted
by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0940362/">Shailene Woodley</a>). </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Bush administration (2001-2009)
alleged that Slahi recruited some of the individuals who were responsible for
the violent attacks of September 11, 2001, and the thousands murdered, injured
and traumatized due to these attacks. The government assigned the task of
prosecuting Slahi to Lieutenant Colonel V. Stuart Couch (portrayed by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1212722/">Benedict Cumberbatch</a>). The film
delved into Couch’s journey from someone seeking the death penalty for Slahi,
to his doubting the way in which evidence was secured (through torture),
whether a conviction could be obtained, and importantly whether it should be. As
depicted in the film, Couch’s commitment to prosecute Slahi and see him
executed was in no small part due to Couch’s personal relationship with one of
the commercial airline pilots who was murdered when Al-Qaida members hijacked
and took control of United Airlines flight 175, and then flew the plane into
the south tower of the World Trade Center.[2]</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That a prosecutor may experience
doubts about a case or an accused’s guilt, shouldn’t be problematic even though
this may fly in the face of what people see in popular culture. For example, in
adversarial legal systems, one imagines two or more parties vigorously litigating
a matter – a type of civil(ized) combat. However, there are actual limits as to
what lawyers can do while representing their clients in pursuit of a legal
victory. Lawyers are bound by codes of professional responsibility and may be
disciplined for breaching ethical rules. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It is noteworthy that prosecutors have heightened
responsibilities that their counterparts on the defence side do not share. This
isn’t surprising. Criminal prosecutions are different from civil cases.
Prosecutors are not just supposed to seek a conviction and a harsh sentence as
their prizes. As one justice of the Supreme Court of Canada explained many
years ago: </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It cannot be over-emphasized that <b>the purpose
of a criminal prosecution is not to obtain a conviction</b>, it is to lay
before a jury what the Crown considers to be <b>credible evidence</b> relevant
to what is alleged to be a crime. […] <b>The role of prosecutor excludes any
notion of winning or losing; [their] function is a matter of public duty than
which in civil life there can be none charged with greater personal
responsibility.</b>[3]</span></span></blockquote><p>
<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This principle has been articulated in other
jurisdictions. For example, section 3.8 of the <a href="https://casetext.com/rule/illinois-court-rules/illinois-supreme-court-rules/article-viii-illinois-rules-of-professional-conduct-of-2010/rule-38-special-responsibilities-of-a-prosecutor"><i>Illinois
<span>Rules of Professional Conduct of 2010</span></i></a><span> states that, “</span><b>The duty of a public
prosecutor is to seek justice, not merely to convict</b>.<b>”</b> The American
Bar Association’s <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_3_8_special_responsibilities_of_a_prosecutor/">Model
Rules</a>, which have been adopted across various states, does not refer to
this specific duty,[4] but the
ABA’s <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/criminal_justice/standards/ProsecutionFunctionFourthEdition/">Criminal
Justice Standards</a> (2017) at standard 3-1.2(b) provides:</span></span>
</p><blockquote><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The <b>primary
duty of the prosecutor is to seek justice within the bounds of the law, not
merely to convict</b>. […] <b>The prosecutor should</b> seek to protect the
innocent and convict the guilty, consider the interests of victims and
witnesses, and <b>respect the constitutional and legal rights of all persons,
including suspects and defendants</b>. [emphasis added]
</span></span></blockquote><style><span style="font-family: times;"><font size="4">@font-face
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</p><p class="para" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Such rules/standards
highlight that prosecutors have unique responsibilities. Nevertheless,
following these tenets may not be a priority for every prosecutor, and even when
they are, there may be immense pressure to cut corners in ways that undermine such
duties. <i>The Mauritanian</i> depicts Lieutenant Colonel Couch’s challenges in
abiding by these norms in the face of opposition by his superior and other
government actors. </span></span></p>
<span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the film, Couch is urged to proceed with Slahi’s
prosecution with some haste and notwithstanding the limited information and
evidence that he and his team are given. The problem is that the evidence is
inconsistent and lacking in detail, such that corroboration by prosecutors is
not possible. For instance, while Couch’s prosecution team were given summaries
regarding the interrogations with Slahi, information regarding the identities
of the many interrogators, the techniques used, and when the statements were
made, were not disclosed to them. Couch is advised by his friend, Neil Buckland
(played by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1157048/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t45">Zachary
Levi</a>), who is also an intelligence officer, that the details Couch is
seeking can be found in memorandums for the record (MFRs). These are created
for the intelligence community and not for legal prosecutions. At various
stages in the film, Couch seeks access to the MFRs and is consistently rebuffed.
Indeed, he is told that everyone already knows what the 9/11 terrorists did.
For Couch, making a successful case against Slahi required his team to
corroborate all the evidence they held and planned to use, given that they were
pursuing the death penalty. In a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k29PbffewkA">meeting</a> with his subordinates,
Couch instructs them “to be exacting, thorough. We are seeking the death
penalty. But if we miss something, this guy goes home.” </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><style><span style="font-family: times;"><font size="4">@font-face
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Due to Couch’s efforts to be exacting and his persistence
in acquiring the MFRs, he finds his own government’s unwillingness to share
information with him to be frustrating and confounding. In one <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_iWkggXKPo">scene</a> at a holiday party,
Couch and Buckland have a tense exchange. Couch advises that without the MFRs,
his case is a bust. Buckland responds, “You're overthinking this, sport. Either
wear the jersey or get off the field.” Couch reminds Buckland that it’s not
just about team loyalty, but the lack of proper evidence has serious
consequences. In response Buckland speaks of getting justice for “Bruce”,
Couch’s pilot friend who perished on 9/11.
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{page:WordSectioDue to Couch’s efforts to be exacting and his persistence
in acquiring the MFRs, he finds his own government’s unwillingness to share
information with him to be frustrating and confounding. In one scene at a holiday party,
Couch and Buckland have a tense exchange. Couch advises that without the MFRs,
his case is a bust. Buckland responds, “You're overthinking this, sport. Either
wear the jersey or get off the field.” Couch reminds Buckland that it’s not
just about team loyalty, but the lack of proper evidence has serious
consequences. In response Buckland speaks of getting justice for “Bruce”,
Couch’s pilot friend who perished on 9/11.</font></span</style> </p><span style="font-family: times;"></span>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
<span></span></span></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Couch<span class="character">: </span>My charge is
to get Slahi the needle. No one else is going to walk him there. Not you, not
POTUS, that’s on me. And if I’m wrong, when it comes to my reckoning, I’m the
one who'll have to answer for it.</span> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><style>@font-face
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<span>Buckland<span class="character">: </span>And who’s
going to answer for Bruce?</span> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">
<span>Couch<span class="character">: [incredulous] </span>You’re
going to bring <i>his</i> name into this? </span> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><style>@font-face
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<span>Buckland<span class="character">: </span>No, no,
no, you don’t know what we know. United flight 175, based on evidence gathered
from the wreckage, the first thing those terrorists did - was slash up a flight
attendant to elicit the co-pilot, Bruce, to open the cockpit door and come to
her rescue. And then they slit his throat with a box cutter and let him bleed
to death on the flight deck as the plane hit the tower. Now <i>someone</i> has
to answer, for <i>that</i>.</span> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
<span>Couch<span class="character">: </span>Someone...
not just anyone. Happy fucking holiday.</span>
</span></span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> <br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><style> </style></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><style> </style></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><style>@font-face
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{mso-style-name:character;
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Crucially, this
exchange conveys the responsibility of a prosecutor to see that justice is done
and not to secure a conviction of just anyone. This means, obviously, that only
a person who has actually committed the relevant unlawful act or omission (<i>actus
reus</i>) should be prosecuted and convicted. Vengeance is not an appropriate
reason to pursue a conviction, and more severely, the death penalty. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Following the
encounter at the party, Buckland arranges to allow Couch to review the MFRs concerning
Slahi’s confessions in a sealed room. Couch learns that not only was Slahi physically
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YozKFwQKq_0">tortured</a>, but he was told
that his mother would be brought to Guantanamo Bay and be subjected to rape by other
prisoners if he didn’t confess. Furthermore, the techniques were authorized by then-Secretary
of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Recognizing the inadmissibility of the evidence and
how unreliable the confessions were, Couch decides that pursuing Slahi’s prosecution
was untenable, as a lawyer and as a Christian. He confronts his superior,
Colonel Bill Seidel. The following is their exchange:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
<span class="character"></span></span></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="character">Couch:
</span>What’s been done here is reprehensible! </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> <br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><style>@font-face
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<span class="character">Seidel:
</span>I don’t want to hear another word about detainee
treatment. Your job is to bring charges. Let the judge decide what’s
admissible. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
<span class="character">Couch:
</span>Sir, I refuse to prosecute this case. As a
Christian, as a lawyer...[6]
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> <br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><style> </style></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><style> </style></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
<span class="character">Seidel:
</span><span class="fine">[shouts] </span>What makes you think you're better than the rest of
us? </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><style>@font-face
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<span class="character">Couch:
</span>I don’t think I'm better than anybody else, that
is the point! Now we all took an oath, to support and defend the constitution.
At the very least, we are miles away from that.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
<span class="character">Seidel:</span><span class="fine"> [approaches Couch and gets up into his
face] </span>You’re a traitor.
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: times;">
<span class="character">Couch:
</span><span class="fine">[astonished] </span>What?
</span></span></span></span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;</font></span></style><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="character"></span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"></span><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As this exchange
suggests, a prosecutor’s responsibility isn’t simply to bring a case forward
regardless of how the evidence was procured and its lack of reliability. While
it is a court’s responsibility to assess the admissibility of the evidence,
prosecutors also exercise judgment about whether unconstitutionally obtained
evidence should even be offered, and furthermore whether the case should be
pursued solely based on such evidence. Undoubtedly, there are many times when
it is a close call as to whether the methods employed to secure a confession or
other evidence violate constitutional norms or common law rules. However, there
are moments when the methods employed are blatantly illegal. In such cases, does
a prosecutor proceed all the same, and bow to pressure from superiors? In
addition to the answer being “no”,<i> the Mauritanian</i> illustrates that Couch’s
refusal to do so amounts to an act of resistance, for which he is labelled a
“traitor” by his superior officer. <span> </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.2pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In my previous
post on the right to counsel, I addressed how <i>The Mauritanian</i> emphasized
the importance of defence counsel in upholding the rule of law. The film also leaves
with its audience, the principle that prosecutors similarly possess this solemn
function, despite institutional and political pressures to do otherwise. </span></span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;</font></span></style><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><u>Notes</u></b><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1. <span>Slahi’s
story was set out in his book, </span><a href="http://guantanamodiary.com/"><i><span>Guantanamo Diary</span></i></a><span> in 2015. The book was heavily redacted by the United States
government. That same year, <i>The Guardian</i> produced a documentary based on
<i>Guantanamo Diary</i> and featured interviews with his lawyer, Nancy
Hollander and others. See “Guantánamo Diary: torture and detention without
charge”, online: </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YozKFwQKq_0"><span>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YozKFwQKq_0</span></a><span>.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>2. </span><span>
For considerations of space, I’ll leave aside the
oddity of a government lawyer prosecuting someone allegedly involved in the
murder of the lawyer’s own friend and how that might compromise their judgment.
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>3. </span><span>
<i>Boucher v The Queen</i>, [1955] SCR 16 at 24, Rand J concurring [emphasis
added]. While the<i> </i><a href="https://flsc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Model-Code-as-amended-March-2017-Final.pdf"><i><span>Model Code of Professional Conduct</span></i></a><span class="MsoHyperlink">,</span>
produced by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, does not specifically include
this principle in its provision on duties of prosecutors (section 5.1-3), it is
incorporated in the commentary: “When engaged as a prosecutor, the lawyer’s
primary duty is not to seek to convict but to see that justice is done through
a fair trial on the merits.”</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>4. </span><span></span>Though rule 3.8 of the <i>Model
Rules</i> does stipulate that, “The prosecutor in a criminal case shall: (a)
refrain from prosecuting a charge that the prosecutor knows is not supported by
probable cause ….”</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">5. </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">President of the United States. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">6. The film highlights Couch’s
identity as a self-identified Christian and how this informs his decision-making.
It’s worth noting that however laudable Couch’s conduct may have been with respect
to Slahi’s prosecution as depicted in the film, such ethics were not always at
the forefront when Couch acted in other roles. See Noah Lanard, “Judge Promoted
by Trump Administration Threatened a 2-Year-Old With an Attack Dog” <i>Mother
Jones</i> (10 September 2019), online: <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/09/judge-promoted-by-trump-administration-threatened-a-2-year-old-with-an-attack-dog/">https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/09/judge-promoted-by-trump-administration-threatened-a-2-year-old-with-an-attack-dog/</a>.
</span></span>
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</span></span>Dr. Amar Khodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12112721819346797142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8653857575034975933.post-91545224692997923992021-07-26T12:12:00.005-04:002021-07-26T12:35:21.390-04:00“Everybody Has the Right to Counsel”<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Through
storytelling, producers of popular culture can remind us of various things we
may take for granted, including our legal rights and their importance. In
connection with the criminal justice system, one particularly significant legal
entitlement is the right to counsel. The value of this right was highlighted in
the 2021 film, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4761112/"><i>The Mauritanian</i></a>. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvHtEQPxTjY6p8srZL688k20kMa_oRsfY_QXPOLvux9KWMHF6eCyhqcCEui7mqjxZap8vjlvIb03f-hnxpSBRXXMPJ-YzPyqWGX0aD8dqPiIVIrvLBLJ3sq6Uuoemff7UzSiIxoYDsAOcf/s1272/Screen+Shot+2021-07-26+at+11.13.50+AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1272" data-original-width="866" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvHtEQPxTjY6p8srZL688k20kMa_oRsfY_QXPOLvux9KWMHF6eCyhqcCEui7mqjxZap8vjlvIb03f-hnxpSBRXXMPJ-YzPyqWGX0aD8dqPiIVIrvLBLJ3sq6Uuoemff7UzSiIxoYDsAOcf/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-07-26+at+11.13.50+AM.png" /></a></div><br /> </span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The
film depicts <a href="https://canongate.co.uk/contributors/10140-mohamedou-ould-slahi/">Mohamedou
Ould Slahi</a>’s harrowing experiences (including torture) as a prisoner detained
at the United States military detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, and his protracted
legal battle to be freed from custody.[1] Slahi (portrayed by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2588665/">Tahar Rahim</a>) spent <b><i>over a
decade</i></b> in detention and was finally released in 2016. He was first
taken into custody in 2001, and then detained in Jordan, Afghanistan and finally,
Guantanamo Bay. His eventual release was due in no small effort to the tremendous
pro bono work of his legal counsel, <a href="https://fbdlaw.com/our-attorneys/nancy-hollander/">Nancy Hollander</a> (played by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000149/">Jodie Foster</a>) and <a href="http://www.duncanearnest.com/theresa-m-duncan.html">Teri Duncan</a>
(depicted by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0940362/">Shailene Woodley</a>).
</span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The
importance of the right to counsel was driven home in a few key moments in the
film. In one scene, Hollander and Slahi have a terse conversation about his
confession and why he signed it if he didn’t commit the acts alleged (i.e.
recruiting 9/11 hijackers). In explaining that he was coerced into making
this confession through torture, Slahi demands to know why Hollander wants to
continue defending him if she thinks he’s guilty and a terrorist. She responds,
“Everybody has the right to counsel.” She asserts this as something inviolable regardless
of the crime alleged – as it should be. But there’s more. </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The
inviolability of one’s right to a lawyer is reinforced in another scene with a
reporter interviewing her about her representation of Slahi. After being asked
about how she reacts when someone calls her a terrorist lawyer, Hollander answers,</span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">When I defended someone charged
with rape, nobody called me a rapist. When I defended someone charged with
murder, no one dug around my backyard. But when someone’s accused of terrorism,
people like you seem to think that’s different. It’s not. When I stand by my
client, and I insist that he gets a fair hearing, I’m not just defending him,
I’m defending you and me. The Constitution doesn’t have an asterisk at the end
that says, ‘terms and conditions apply.’ </span></blockquote><p></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Upholding
an accused’s constitutional rights therefore isn’t just about defending a
particular client. In the process of defending their client, a lawyer upholds
everyone’s right to a fair process. A case isn’t just an isolated matter. It
is part of a larger system and series of practices. The failure to uphold a
client’s rights emboldens and invites state actors to continue infringing
individual rights and for some prosecutors to defend such behaviour. </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>The
Mauritanian</i> also
reinforces the notion that defence counsel has a role in defending the rule of law. In one exchange between
Hollander and the lead prosecutor, Lieutenant Colonel <a href="https://www.studycenter.net/people/stuart-couch">Stuart Couch</a> (played
by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1212722/">Benedict Cumberbatch</a>),
the responsibility of upholding the rule of law is pivotal and supersedes defending unsavoury clients,
especially those accused of terrorism. Couch inquires of Hollander, “Let me ask
you. I understand everyone has a right to a defence, but doesn’t it bother you
at all, working for someone like this?” Hollander replies, unflinchingly, “I’m
not just defending him, I’m defending the rule of law.” The rule of law
requires the state to conduct itself in accordance with the law and not have
its agents engage in torture, and certainly not benefit by using incriminating
statements generated through such techniques. </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">While
many may take the role of criminal defence lawyers for granted, or indeed view
such persons pejoratively (especially when the accused/detainee is suspected of
an offence connected to terrorism), the film reminds viewers of the vital function
that these advocates play. The role of defence counsel isn’t just to argue that the prosecution has not discharged their burden to prove guilt
beyond a reasonable doubt (e.g. because the client didn’t commit the act
alleged, the client didn’t have the appropriate mental state even if an act was
committed, or the client had a valid defence). Among other things, a defence
lawyer’s role also includes making the case that their client be released on
bail pending trial (which has a corresponding impact on plea negotiations),
demanding disclosure of evidence in the possession of the state, challenging
the admission of illegally obtained evidence, or advancing the best case for an
appropriate sentence even if guilt is determined. In jurisdictions where
individuals have a constitutional right to have lawyers present during a police
interrogation, they can serve as an important bulwark against skilled police
interrogators by reminding their client of their right to remain silent. Even in
situations when an individual hasn’t been charged but has been detained
nevertheless, the role of counsel is also vital in forcing the detaining
authority to justify the person’s detention through <i>habeus</i> <i>corpus</i>
applications. This was the context in which Slahi found himself.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Of
course, despite the best efforts of defence counsel, there are other actors in
the legal system. Upholding rights isn’t just the responsibility of defence
lawyers, courts play a crucial role through their rulings as (notionally)
impartial and independent adjudicators. In addition, prosecutors have certain
ethical and professional responsibilities, and the manner in which they conduct
themselves affects the rights of accused/detainees. On the role of prosecutors,
<i>The Mauritanian</i> also has something to say on this. I’ll likely follow up
on this latter point in a future post. </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">[1]
Slahi’s story was set out in his book, <i><a href="http://guantanamodiary.com/">Guantanamo
Diary</a></i> in 2015. The book was heavily redacted by the United States
government. That same year, <i>The Guardian</i> produced a documentary based on
<i>Guantanamo Diary</i> and featured interviews with his lawyer, Nancy Hollander
and others. See “Guantánamo Diary: torture and detention without charge”,
online: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YozKFwQKq_0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YozKFwQKq_0</a>.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span></p>
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} catch(err) {}</script>Dr. Amar Khodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12112721819346797142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8653857575034975933.post-17685208555593449002017-06-22T10:00:00.000-04:002017-06-22T14:03:40.497-04:00Sullying the Process: Sully and the Construction of the National Transportation Safety Board<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlR6mGeGIY5GtLdrx980N6qQ4c8pudL3RBaJI1bKllg7Nb9VshMXZGHDmzD0ch24GCOtAKDYUSZrkUkEo4hhMK5zueq0YakI6O7HjardqyH1-EXnph3OGgCc7aMH_JSpO3LGU9QHlhyphenhyphenIF-/s1600/Courtroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlR6mGeGIY5GtLdrx980N6qQ4c8pudL3RBaJI1bKllg7Nb9VshMXZGHDmzD0ch24GCOtAKDYUSZrkUkEo4hhMK5zueq0YakI6O7HjardqyH1-EXnph3OGgCc7aMH_JSpO3LGU9QHlhyphenhyphenIF-/s400/Courtroom.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><u>Setting the Scene</u> </span></span></h2>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Producers of popular culture love a good legal battle.
It makes for a riveting storyline. Courtrooms tend to embody the quintessential
sites where legal conflicts come to a head. Yet, as many in the legal community
are aware and as law students come to learn, courtrooms are not the only venues
where disputes and controversies are hashed out and hopefully resolved. There
are any number of legal controversies that are litigated and/or investigated outside
the courtroom. Enter the magical and diverse world of administrative law.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: large;">Administrative law is a rather complex area of
study and practice. It concerns a wide variety of decision-making processes. As
societies have become more complex, governments have created a plethora of
decision-making and dispute-resolution regimes that specialize in and possess
expertise on a broad number of subject matters – e.g., immigration, homeland
security, transportation, labour relations, social security, environmental
protection, regulation of professions, regulations of sports, and the list goes
on.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: large;">Administrative bodies come in various forms –
government departments, tribunals, boards, specialized courts, commissions of
inquiry, etc. Administrative agencies/actors engage in a range of conduct. For
example, some formulate broad rules and regulations that are or appear legislative
in nature. In that capacity, they may consult a broad spectrum of people with a
wide range of interests – including those impacted by the potential rules,
other stakeholders and experts. Other agencies/actors engage in adjudicative
functions, which may resemble to varying degrees judicial proceedings. Some of
the more well-known administrative processes of an adjudicative nature include
adversarial proceedings before US immigration judges, or litigation of labor
disputes before labor relations boards or arbitrators. In such settings, there
are two adverse parties with an impartial decision-maker deciding the matter. Other
adjudicative proceedings may be more inquisitorial in nature, with the
decision-maker participating in the gathering of evidence by posing the actual
questions to a party or parties appearing before them. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">As a teacher of administrative law (and a law and
popular culture scholar), I am always fascinated to see how films or television
series present administrative proceedings as part of their storylines. In
particular, I am interested in how these productions speak to matters of
procedure (not the sexiest of subject matters to be sure). Administrative
proceedings, even those that replicate an adjudicative setting, are not courts
of law. Rules employed in courts of law, including the rules of evidence and rules
of civil procedure are relaxed in administrative proceedings. Still, there are
nevertheless rules/norms of practice/procedure that decision-makers are
expected to adhere to. There are any number of sources for such rules – the
constitution, statute, regulations, as well as the common law. They may relate
to issues of basic notice, discovery and disclosure of information possessed by
an agency or other third parties; participatory rights during a hearing; the
ability to have counsel present during questioning; as well as the right to
have access to reasons upon which a decision is based. Not all proceedings will
permit the presence of counsel during a hearing, the ability to participate in
proceedings, or access to possibly relevant information. Most members of the
public are not aware of these matters for obvious reasons. So, when films present administrative
proceedings as part of their narratives, what educative role can they play
about the decision-makers, the body itself, the manner in which decisions are
made and their function(s)? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: large;">In recent years, two films, <i>Sully</i> (starring Tom Hanks) and <i>Flight</i>
(starring Denzel Washington) have presented or constructed proceedings before
the United States’ National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The NTSB is an
administrative body created by the United States Congress. Among its many
functions, the NTSB investigates airplane accidents occurring in the United
States – indeed it is mandated to do so by law. Both films involve airline
accidents.</span> </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3263904/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Sully</span></i></span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: large;"> is based on the real life events of US Airways
Flight 1549, which, following take off from La Guardia Airport, experienced a
collision with a swarm of Canadian geese. Some of the flock flew straight into
the engines causing total or near total shutdown. Consequently, the pilots,
Captain Chesley Sullenberger and first officer Jeff Skiles were forced to make
an emergency landing in the Hudson River (separating Manhattan and New Jersey).
The incident took place in mid-January 2009 and was highly publicized. Much
less so were the NTSB proceedings that followed, until they became a central
feature of the film.</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1907668/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Flight</span></i></span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: large;">, by contrast, was a fictional story. Due to
mechanical failure, an airplane piloted by Denzel Washington’s character was
forced to engage in an unorthodox maneuver to stop a rapid and steep descent
by flying the plane upside down. The plane is able to halt its vertical descent
and fly horizontally before crash landing in a field. Though some perish, most of
the passengers and crew survive. Washington’s character pulled off a miracle;
however, he was also high on narcotics and intoxicated during the flight. The
film in part features whether he can avoid having this disclosed, the
consequence of which may lead to criminal liability.</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: large;">In this post, I want to examine how <i>Sully</i>, in particular, explores the
nature of administrative proceedings and what it might teach us about them.
Because <i>Sully</i> is based on real life
events, I not only want to examine how the film constructs the nature of the proceedings,
but also how the proceedings transpired in real life based on transcripts/footage.
While <i>Sully</i> may have accurately
depicted the events leading to and including the air strike with the geese,
followed by the emergency landing in the Hudson River and subsequent rescue by
first responders, the proceedings before the NTSB are something else entirely.
It might be safe to say that they are indeed completely fictional. Accordingly,
I want to examine what we can learn about the depiction of the NTSB
proceedings, even if fictional, as a teaching moment regarding the importance
of participatory rights and disclosure of information. Second, I shall argue
that this fictionalization, however dramatic and entertaining on one level,
problematically misrepresents the nature of such proceedings in the viewing
public’s mind more generally, but also in connection with what happened in this
case specifically.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">To provide some clarity to readers, when I use the
term Sully in italics, I am referring to the film itself. When referring to the
film representation of Captain Sullenberger, I shall refer to the character as
“Sully” without italics. Lastly, when I refer to the real-life Captain
Sullenberger, I shall refer to him as “Sullenberger”. </span></span></div>
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<h2 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<u><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Depicting the NTSB Process</span></u><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span>
</h2>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">A primary feature of <i>Sully</i> is the investigation of the landing in the Hudson River. At
the core of the investigation as presented in the film is the necessity of
landing the plane in the Hudson as opposed to flying back to La Guardia Airport
or an alternative airport in New Jersey. As part of this second-guessing of the
pilots, NTSB investigators indicate that computer simulations demonstrate that
Sully could have flown back to La Guardia or Teeterboro Airport in New Jersey.
Just prior to the hearing, Sully is seen requesting that human piloted flight
simulations be undertaken. At the hearing, live streamed video shows two
simulations where pilot crews successfully land at La Guardia and Teeterboro respectively.
Immediately following this, the following scene transpires where the character
Sully makes a number of important points and poses certain questions of the
NTSB. The following <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgazZmrXBsQ">clip</a>
illustrates this. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Through this scene, which as I will demonstrate
later is fictional, some important administrative law principles arise. First
is the importance of participatory rights and the ability to speak to the
administrative decision-maker. Here the character Sully is able to confront and
challenge the NTSB panel on its willingness to rely on rather faulty evidence
in questioning his decision to land the plane on the Hudson River. He does so
by pointing out that the pilots in the simulators have been given the
information beforehand about what is to happen and where they were expected to
fly to immediately after the bird strike. Sully is able to correctly advise
that this removes the human element of what it is like in that cockpit at the
time of the strike and the need to make some allowance for reaction time to
assess what has transpired and should happen. Furthermore, as part of this
confrontation, Sully is able to elicit information about how many attempts the
pilots were given before getting these simulated landings right. Further to
Sully’s intervention, the two flight simulation teams are directed by the panel
to attempt landings after 35 second delays following the bird strikes (to
account for circumstances similar to what Sully and Skiles faced). In both
instances, the landings were portrayed as unsuccessful. One of the attempts is
depicted <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WSd2Kkl5gM">here:</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: large;">It is worth noting that not every administrative
proceeding or investigation, more generally, permits participation of those
being investigated through oral hearings. To the extent that any participation
at all is allowed in various administrative processes, this may be limited to
written representations even where the stakes for the individual are important.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: large;">In addition, the scene also illustrates the value
of disclosing information. Disclosing information allows a person who is the
subject of proceedings to understand, among other things, the case to be met. As
<i>Sully</i> illustrates, it allows a party
to contextualize certain data and its overall value. In the film, armed with
the number of practice runs the simulator pilots were given, Sully is able to
cast doubts on the validity of the successful landings depicted. Put another
way perhaps, Sully is able to argue how the flight simulations shown and the
reliance by the Board on these successful landings are entirely de-contextualized.
Ultimately, the audience is given the message that without these opportunities
to participate and seek disclosure of certain information, Sully and Skiles
would be faulted for their decision to land in the Hudson.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </span></span></div>
<h2 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<u><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Framing the Problem</span></u></h2>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Whatever broader insights <i>Sully</i> provides on procedural rights, there are nevertheless
problematic aspects in terms of its representation of the NTSB. As noted above,
the depiction of the proceedings was unrealistic, if not entirely fictional –
this refers not just to the actual dialogue between Sully and the panel, but
also the general tone in which the questions were asked. <i>Sully</i> portrays NTSB investigators as openly second-guessing Sully’s
and Skiles’ decision to land on the Hudson. But there is more to it than just
presenting the NTSB panelists as disrespectful and arrogant. The panelists
withheld information about the numerous attempts made by the simulator pilots
to land the planes at the designated airports. It was only after Sully seeks
disclosure during the hearing that the information is revealed. It almost
harkens to instances where government prosecutors in criminal trials have
failed to disclose exculpatory information to defendants or defence counsel.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">The film’s fabrication of what transpired during
the hearings was substantial. One need only read the <a href="http://www.exosphere3d.com/pubwww/pdf/flight_1549/ntsb_docket/422295.pdf" target="_blank">transcripts</a> or watch
footage from the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEXTJDhGOSQ" target="_blank">hearings</a> to see that the manner in which Sullenberger was
actually treated in the hearing was much different than that which was
portrayed in the film. Indeed, NTSB member Robert Sumwalt, who chaired the
hearing and who was himself a former commercial airline pilot, praised Sullenberger
for his cool and professional mindset, which helped land the plane into the
Hudson. At one stage Sullenberger asserted the following:</span></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">But I think both Jeff Skiles and I have done this
long enough and trained long enough to have internalized the values of our
profession and to have learned what needs to be done, and so we quickly
acknowledged our bodies' innate physiological reactions, set it aside and began
to work on the task at hand.</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">In response, Sumwalt posited: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">And I think that is so important. I'm trying to get
an idea of what your mindset is and how you were there. I can contrast you to a
crew that we looked at recently that I mentioned the captain said he was
ambivalent. They had an engine fire 800 feet AGL and it took about three and a
half 16 minutes before they completed the checklist, which should be a memory
item, should be done immediately. So I want to be able to bottle your mindset
and be able to make sure that everybody is drinking from that same bottle.</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Notably, this type of language hardly suggests
skepticism regarding Sullenberger or Skiles and their decision-making that day.
Chairman Sumwalt also observed in his concurrence in the final <a href="https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR1003.pdf" target="_blank">NTSB report</a> the
lack of available options but to land the plane in the Hudson. The NTSB report clearly pointed to the fact that the probable cause for the landing was
the bird strike and the consequent damage to the engines. Sumwalt articulated
that the reason for his concurrence was as follows: “</span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">I would like
to amplify why I believe this event was a “forced landing on water” rather than
a “ditching.”” He argued that the NTSB’s understanding of a ditching
involved a planned component where the crew knowingly lands on water. Ditching
allows for some time to prepare. By contrast, Sullenberger and Skiles had very
little time. Sumwalt states the following:</span></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana";">There was only one minute, fifteen seconds from the
time the captain told the air traffic controller that he couldn’t make
Teterboro Airport and uttered those bone-chilling words, “We’re gonna be in the
Hudson,” until the actual touchdown. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana";">I question whether having one minute, fifteen seconds
is sufficient to consider a landing as “planned.” I believe they reacted to
their only viable option and landed where they could, instead of a “planned
water event in which the flight crew… knowingly attempts to land in
water.” </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana";">Testimony from the public hearing indicated that there
are unique attributes of a planned ditching that include the flight crew going
through checklists, preparing the cabin crew, and having the passengers
prepared. In the case of US Airways 1549, the crew didn’t have time to go
through the ditching checklist, they didn’t have time to prepare the cabin, and
the passengers were not prepared for the water landing. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana";">For the above reasons, I believe US Airways 1549 was a
forced landing on water as opposed to a ditching. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana";">This point aside, whether we call this event a forced
landing or a ditching, the objective of this investigation and its ensuing
report is to help improve the outcome should future crews find themselves in
the situation faced by this crew. The report produced by staff does exactly
that. Therefore, I support the report’s findings, probable cause, and
recommendations. </span></span></div>
</blockquote>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">During the film, the NTSB hearing focused on the
flight simulations. The NTSB film panel, as depicted, stressed how questionable
it was for Sully and Skiles to land in the Hudson River when the simulations showed
the possibility of flying back to La Guardia or Teterboro airports. During the
actual hearing, the flight simulations didn’t receive much attention. Indeed,
when it did come up as a topic for discussion, this is an example of what was said by the Hearing Officer <a href="https://servicetoamericamedals.org/honorees/view_profile.php?profile=243" target="_blank">Robert Benzon</a>
when summarizing the results of the investigation up to the point:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">During the course of the investigation, flight
simulations were conducted.<span class="apple-converted-space"><b> </b></span>These flight simulations
revealed that a successful return to LaGuardia or a diversion to Teterboro Airport
was not assured.<span class="apple-converted-space"><b> </b></span></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Both in content and tone, this is hardly the
makings of the inquisition that the film seemed to portray. It's worth noting that Benzon and others were decidedly unappreciative of <i>Sully's </i>portrayal of the NTSB's investigation (see <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-07/crash-investigators-pan-their-portrayal-as-villains-in-sully" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-ntsb-investigators-have-beef-with-movie-sully/" target="_blank">here</a>).</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">So why does all this matter? Why should anyone be
concerned about the film’s portrayal and construction of a relatively obscure
federal administrative body? Films have the ability to construct and imagine
groups of people in manners that other mediums may not. Noted law and film
scholar <a href="https://www.academia.edu/4362426/Why_Law_and_Film_and_What_Does_It_Actually_Mean_A_Perspective">Orit
Kamir posits</a> the following:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: large;">films are overwhelmingly influential, playing a key role in the construction of individuals and groups in contemporary societies. They reach enormous audiences and, combining narratives and appealing characters with visual imagery and technological achievement, can stir deep emotions and leave deep impressions. Leading viewers through cinematic judgments constituting notions of justice, equality, honour and gender, films can be extremely effective in moulding public actions and reactions.</span> </span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Here the construction of individuals and groups
relates to those at the NTSB who worked on the investigation of the US Airways
more specifically. However, at a broader level of construction, it relates to those
who conduct such investigations more generally. The NTSB carries out important
work which seeks to find causes of accidents, prevent future accidents, and
worse still tragedies where there are human losses. This is important work that
pursues a public safety and protection role. The general public’s exposure to
the NTSB’s work is likely to be fairly limited, so when there is some
representation/portrayal of its proceedings in popular culture productions,
these relatively few depictions may have an impact on molding public reactions
to its value. It might be fair to state that there is already an undercurrent
of animosity to the idea of administrative oversight/regulation more generally. Witness the popularity of conservatives and
libertarians railing against “Big Government”. Portrayals of surly and
antagonistic administrative actors, as we see in <i>Sully</i> does little to allay such negativity. It only fosters a
corrosive pessimism surrounding the need for and value of such bodies. Such
pessimism may very well extend to other administrative bodies as being
populated by incompetent, duplicitous, and/or vindictive hacks. The fact that <i>Sully</i> is purported to be based on real
life events that are in the public’s knowledge only makes it more plausible
that the depiction of the NTSB investigation and the hearing might be viewed as
also being reflective of true events. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">There are obvious commercial reasons for portraying the NTSB
investigation and hearing in the manner that it was in <i>Sully</i>. As noted above it makes
for a great (legal) drama. It pits a protagonist and obvious hero against a
villain, here a federal administrative body. Here, Sully as David, must face
off against two Goliaths. The first Goliath is represented by the circumstances
he faces and the daunting task of saving the lives of those on board the plane.
The second is the NTSB board, which actively seeks to second guess and impugn
his decision. Perhaps we don’t often imagine administrative officials as
heroes, but it certainly is easy as the film demonstrates to mis-characterize them as villains. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">In Robert Benzon's perspective in response to the film, he <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-ntsb-investigators-have-beef-with-movie-sully/" target="_blank">posited</a> the following: </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">“We’re not
the KGB. We’re not the Gestapo. We're the guys with the white hats on." It
hardly matters that the names of the NTSB investigators in
the film, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">including Benzon's,</span> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">were all fictional</span> (though it may certainly matter to the actual individuals). It does
certainly matter to the institution and the public’s respect and understanding
for the value of its work. </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Sully </i>did them a disservice. </span></span></div>
</div>
Dr. Amar Khodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12112721819346797142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8653857575034975933.post-29882963673830348322017-04-03T10:32:00.000-04:002017-04-04T22:02:45.358-04:00Fraud in the First Degree: BBC’s Undercover, Sexual Assault and the Vitiation of Consent<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Violence against women is as much a matter of equality as it is an offence against human dignity and a violation of human rights.”[1] </span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: large;">- Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dubé</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Sexual assault is…an assault upon human dignity and constitutes a denial of any concept of equality for women.”[2]</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: large;">- Justice Peter Cory</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">“It must also be borne in mind that the investigation of crime and the detection of criminals is not a game to be governed by the Marquess of Queensbury rules. The authorities, in dealing with shrewd and often sophisticated criminals, must sometimes of necessity resort to tricks or other forms of deceit and should not through the rule be hampered in their work.”[3]</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: large;">- Justice Antonio Lamer</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px;">
<span style="font-size: 15px;">___________________________________________________</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">If a person tells a lie in order to seduce or persuade another into having sex…and it works, should such behaviour amount to a criminal act? If the answer is affirmative, should any lie or series of lies, lead to criminal liability? A recently created BBC television series, <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">Undercover</a></span> provides a popular culture depiction of when lying may be taken too far.</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">
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<span class="cke_widget_wrapper cke_widget_inline cke_image_nocaption align-left cke_widget_selected" contenteditable="false" data-cke-display-name="image" data-cke-filter="off" data-cke-widget-id="0" data-cke-widget-wrapper="1" tabindex="-1"><span class="cke_image_resizer" title="Click and drag to resize"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhix0xMrp7rLaZELGuWngAr1A6mpvDdCz5Q5WJbQGpXlE9nlhK8z05EGc2Y6oNUmSEJCLjQy4P5-F1YO5iYs1PKDq-cb-7TKAJHTwyKo9jGo4L75quSNkdYX098DsYYOlbEq6I5A3cOiDlZ/s1600/undercover_c21_620x3482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhix0xMrp7rLaZELGuWngAr1A6mpvDdCz5Q5WJbQGpXlE9nlhK8z05EGc2Y6oNUmSEJCLjQy4P5-F1YO5iYs1PKDq-cb-7TKAJHTwyKo9jGo4L75quSNkdYX098DsYYOlbEq6I5A3cOiDlZ/s320/undercover_c21_620x3482.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">In the six-episode series, English barrister <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">Maya Cobbina</a></span> (played by Sophie Okonedo) meets and eventually falls in love with <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">Nick Johnson</a></span>, an alleged writer and athlete (played by Adrian Lester). It turns out that Johnson is an undercover police officer assigned to spy on Maya and her political/community activities. He too eventually falls in love with Maya and appears to have left the police force for many years. Together, they have three children who grow up to be teenagers. Maya and the children are unaware of Nick’s true identity (for much of the series). After Maya is hired as the Director of Public Prosecutions, she pursues an investigation into the killing of an old friend and community activist (Michael Antwi) while in police custody. At this point, Nick’s former undercover unit handler re-enters his life and coerces Nick to obtain information about Maya’s work and her investigation into Antwi’s death. As the story progresses Maya confronts Nick with her discovery that he has assumed the identity of an individual who died as a child. He confesses. Maya then accuses Nick of stealing her life. In one particularly visceral scene, the following exchange ensues:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Maya:</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>You raped me.</i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Nick:</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>What? No.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Maya:</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Yes.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Nick:</b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>No, Maya I...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Maya:</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Stop saying my name! You are a rapist! I gave my cons[ent]. I fell in love with someone who isn't you. Who are you?</i></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"><span style="font-style: italic;">Undercover</span> was inspired by revelations</a></span> that actual undercover British police officers pursued long-term relationships with various women</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"></span>, and in some cases had children with them.[4] The objective was to spy on these women and the protest group(s) to which they were members or affiliated. Relationships between the undercover officers and their targets lasted several years. After such relationships became public and there was some outcry, new rules have since been formulated which forbid intimate sexual contact except in extenuating circumstances. A lawsuit was also filed by many of the women, with whom relationships were formed and a settlement was reached in late 2015 that involved both monetary compensation and an apology by the state.[5] As part of the apology, an official for the Metropolitan Police Service stated:</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div dir="rtl" style="margin-right: 40px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I acknowledge that <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">these relationships were a violation of the women’s human rights, an abuse of police power and caused significant trauma</span></span>. I unreservedly apologise on behalf of the Metropolitan police service. I am aware that <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">money alone cannot compensate the loss of time, their hurt or the feelings of abuse caused by these relationships</span></span>.[6]</span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It does not appear that any police officers were convicted or much less charged with sexual assault in these cases. Drawing from the dialogue above between Maya and Nick, we might ask, should undercover police operations that involve officers sleeping with targets, who are unaware that they are dealing with undercover state agents, be considered criminal? In cases such as these, does the act of misrepresenting one’s identity in such a substantial and fundamental way amount to fraud vitiating consent to sex? Or put another way, should the scope of “fraud”, in the context of sexual assault, be expansive enough to encompass substantial deception by undercover officers that leads to a sexual and intimate relationship with a target?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">There is no one simple answer to this given the numerous criminal statutes and jurisdictions around the world. However, given my familiarity with it, I shall draw on Canadian criminal law for some assistance in thinking about these matters. Typically, sexual assault involves an unwanted sexual touching.[7] The Supreme Court of Canada has broken this down into three components – (1) a touching; (2) of a sexual nature; and (3) an absence of consent.[8] The absence of consent is determined from a purely subjective standpoint on the part of the complainant at the time of the touching.[9] Consent relates to the specific sexual act or acts in question.[10] The prosecution must also demonstrate that the accused intended to engage in the touching knowing that the complainant did not give consent or were reckless or willfully blind with respect to consent.[11]</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Critical to the scenario posed is the matter of consent.[12] Canadian law recognizes that consent can be vitiated by fraud. Section 265(3)(c) of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Criminal Code</span> provides “no consent is obtained where the complainant submits or does not resist by reason of … fraud.”[13] The Supreme Court of Canada has articulated that there are two components to demonstrating fraud in this context. First, there must be an act of dishonesty – this may include the non-disclosure of important facts.[14] Second, the dishonest act must also result in a deprivation or risk of a deprivation amounting to serious bodily harm.[15] The Supreme Court of Canada originally formulated these elements regarding fraud vitiating consent in <span style="font-style: italic;">R v Cuerrier</span> – a case concerning an accused who failed to reveal information about his HIV status to two complainants prior to having sexual intercourse.[16]</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">More recently, in <span style="font-style: italic;">R v Hutchinson</span>, the Court applied these elements in a case where the accused agreed to wear condoms when having sex with the complainant but unbeknownst to the latter, the accused intentionally damaged the contraceptives by poking holes in the condom.[17] This resulted in the complainant becoming pregnant.[18] The <span style="font-style: italic;">Hutchinson</span> Court concluded that there was clearly a falsehood – the accused’s failure to disclose that he pokes holes into the condoms thus compromising their contraceptive value.[19] Second, with respect to the element of a deprivation leading to a “significant risk of serious bodily harm”, the Court noted that this did not have to address only harm in the “traditional sense” (whatever this means), it also “includes at least the sorts of profound changes in a woman’s body — changes that may be welcomed or changes that a woman may choose not to accept — resulting from pregnancy.”[20] The Court in <span style="font-style: italic;">Hutchinson</span> asserted that while the <span style="font-style: italic;">Cuerrier</span> Court was addressing the specific risk of sexually transmitted diseases causing the harm in question, this “did not foreclose the possibility that other types of harm may amount to equally serious deprivations and therefore suffice to establish the requirements of fraud under s. 265(3)(c).”[21] The Court stated: “We conclude that where a complainant has chosen not to become pregnant, deceptions that deprive her of the benefit of that choice by making her pregnant, or exposing her to an increased risk of becoming pregnant by removing effective birth control, may constitute a sufficiently serious deprivation for the purposes of fraud vitiating consent under s. 265(3)(c).”[22] More critical to the analysis concerning identity fraud in the undercover police scenario illustrated in <span style="font-style: italic;">Undercover</span>, the Court stated that the following:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-right: 40px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This application of “fraud” under s. 265(3)(c) is consistent with Charter values of equality and autonomy, while recognizing that not every deception that induces consent should be criminalized. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">To establish fraud, the dishonest act must result in a deprivation that is equally serious as the deprivation recognized in Cuerrier and in this case. For example, financial deprivations or mere sadness or stress from being lied to will not be sufficient.</span></span>[23]</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It is worth noting that in <span style="font-style: italic;">Cuerrier</span>, Justice Cory, writing for the majority was concerned that without the requirement of a significant risk of serious bodily harm, an overexpansion of what constituted fraud might criminalize many fraudulent representations, which, however immoral should not be criminalized. Justice Cory hypothesized the following:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="margin-right: 40px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Let us assume that [a male accused] lied about his age and consensual sexual act or acts then took place. The complainant testifies and establishes that her consent would never have been given were it not for this lie and that detriment in the form of mental distress, had been suffered. Fraud would then be established as a result of the dishonesty and detriment and although there had been no serious risk of significant bodily harm a conviction would ensure.[24]</span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Justice Cory posited:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-right: 40px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The same result would necessarily follow if the man lied as to the position of responsibility held by him in a company; or the level of his salary; or the degree of his wealth; or that he would never look at or consider another sexual partner; or as to the extent of his affection for the other party; or as to his sexual prowess. The evidence of the complainant would establish that in each case the sexual act took place as a result of the lie and detriment was suffered. In each case consent would have been obtained by fraud and a conviction would necessarily follow. The lies were immoral and reprehensible but should they result in a conviction for a serious criminal offence? I trust not. It is no doubt because of this potential trivialization that the former provisions of the Code required the fraud to be related to the nature and quality of the act.[25] </span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Drawing from these passages from <span style="font-style: italic;">Hutchinson</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Cuerrier</span>, one can deduce here that the Court is concerned with over-criminalizing all forms of fraud in connection with sexual intercourse. Yet, I sense that there may be instances of fraud that the Court might be willing to recognize as rising to the level of warranting criminal liability. When one considers the idea of police officers going under such deep cover lasting for numerous years, while pursuing long term relationships and having children (in some cases) with their targets, we are no longer just referring solely to financial deprivations, or mere sadness or stress from having been lied to. We are speaking of types of potentially significant emotional and psychological harm (which in turn has physical manifestations). It is perhaps all of these things and much more simultaneously. When children are added into the mix, it is fair to say that many would not want or choose to have children in such circumstances. The fraud involved deprives them of the autonomy to choose not to have a relationship or bring children into the world under such circumstances. What we have here is not just one or two “small” lies, but a rather comprehensive constellation of intersecting falsehoods. To reiterate a message from the <span style="font-style: italic;">Hutchinson</span> Court, <span style="font-style: italic;">Cuerrier</span> “did not foreclose the possibility that other types of harm may amount to equally serious deprivations….”[26]</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Drafters of criminal statutes may not have contemplated such behaviour from police officers and the degree of fraud implicated in these instances. Nevertheless, if, as in the Canadian context, fraud may vitiate consent, courts should adapt their understanding accordingly. <span style="font-style: italic;">Cuerrier</span> addressed the context of fraud in connection with the failure to disclose one’s HIV status. The concept of harm had to be re-examined when dealing with <span style="font-style: italic;">Hutchinson</span> in connection with an unwanted pregnancy. Similarly, should it ever arise, courts should adapt their understanding of fraud where there is a substantial degree of fraud in connection with misrepresenting one’s identity and life history of the kind illustrated in Undercover and more importantly the real life narratives upon which it was based. If the <span style="font-style: italic;">Criminal Code</span> provision protects values founded within the <span style="font-style: italic;">Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms</span> such as autonomy (and respect for autonomy is something that is undoubtedly not unique to Canadian law), this should protect targets of police investigations from sexual assault.[27] </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">What are your thoughts? Should police officers who engage in this kind of behavior be held criminally liable?</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">NOTES</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">1. R v Ewanchuk</span>, [1999] 1 SCR 330 at para 69, 169 DLR (4th) 193, L’Heureux-Dubé, concurring. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">2.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">R v Osolin</span>, [1993] 4 SCR 595 at 669, 109 DLR (4th) 478, Cory J.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">3.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Rothman v The Queen</span>, [1981] 1 SCR 640 at 697, 121 DLR (3d) 578, Lamer J, concurring.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">4.</span> David Barrett, “Undercover police to be banned from having sexual relationships with targets” <span style="font-style: italic;">The Telegraph</span> (29 October 2013), online: The Telegraph <http: crime="" ndercover-police-to-be-banned-from-having-sexual-relationships-with-targets.html="" news="" uknews="" www.telegraph.co.uk="">; Vera Baird, “The sexual behaviour of undercover police fits the definition of rape” <span style="font-style: italic;">The Guardian</span> (28 June 2013), online: The Guardian Unlimited <https: commentisfree="" jun="" sexual-behaviour-undercover-police="" www.theguardian.com="">.</https:></http:></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">5.</span> Rob Evan, “Police apologise to women who had relationships with undercover officers” <span style="font-style: italic;">The Guardian</span> (20 November 2015), online: The Guardian Unlimited <https: met-police-apologise-women-had-relationships-with-undercover-officers="" nov="" uk-news="" www.theguardian.com="">.</https:></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">6. Ibid</span> [emphasis added].</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">7. Ewanchuk</span>, supra note 1 at para 23.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">8. Ibid</span> at para 25.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">9. Ibid</span> at para 26.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">10. R v Hutchinson</span>, 2014 SCC 19 at paras 54-55, [2014] 1 SCR 346</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">11. Ewanchuk</span>, supra note 1 at para 23.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">12. Hutchinson</span>, supra note 10 at para 67.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">13. Criminal Code</span>, RSC 1985, c C46, s 265(3)(c).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">14. Hutchinson</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">supra</span> note 10 at para 67.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">15. Ibid</span>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">16. R v Cuerrier</span>, [1998] 2 SCR 371, 162 DLR (4th) 513 [<span style="font-style: italic;">Cuerrier</span> citing to SCR].</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">17. Hutchinson</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">supra</span> note 10 at para 2.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">18. Ibid</span>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">19. Ibid</span> at para 68.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">20. Ibid</span> at para 70.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">21. Ibid</span> at para 69.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">22. Ibid</span> at para 71.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">23. Ibid</span> at para 72 [emphasis added].</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">24. Cuerrier</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">supra </span>note 16 at para 134.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">25. Ibid</span> at para 135.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">26. Hutchinson</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">supra</span> note 10 at para 69.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">27. The damage caused is not solely limited to the matter of sexual assault. As two of the British women who formed relationships with one of the undercover police officers indicated: “These undercover operations have grievously interfered with people’s right to participate in the struggle for social and environmental justice, and to protest without fear of persecution, objectification or interference in their private and family lives. People who stood up for their rights were blacklisted, and the grief of families fighting for justice for their loved ones became the subject of undercover investigations.” Lisa Jones & Kate Wilson, “Relationships with undercover officers wreck lives. The lies must stop” <span style="font-style: italic;">The Guardian</span> (28 July 2015), online: The Guardian Unlimited <https: commentisfree="" jul="" relationships-undercover-officers-lies-mark-kennedy-police="" www.theguardian.com="">.</https:></span></div>
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Dr. Amar Khodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12112721819346797142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8653857575034975933.post-34442516776574914902017-01-18T14:41:00.000-05:002017-01-18T14:41:28.618-05:00The Fallout
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rape.
It is a difficult word to write or say, let alone discuss. Regardless the
society or culture and despite attempts to prosecute rape at the highest levels
– even internationally as a war crime – it is still highly stigmatized. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Victims
of all ages and genders are often in positions of shame and fear as a result of
the assault they suffer. Popular media tends to address rape and its fallout in
terms of families or communities that are unsupportive or even condemnatory of
victims. In this dichotomy, the impact of rape on the community highlights the
reinforcement of shame and ostracism. And when the victim finds supportive
communities – be they families, friends, social workers or law enforcement
officers – the focus tends to be on providing immediate assurances to the
victims with scant attention to the long-term impacts on the victim or the
community.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The BBC
series <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2396135/" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shetland</i></a> dealt with rape and its
fallout in a very different way, however. As the name suggests, the series is
set in the Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland. It follows the main major
crimes unit for the island, headed by Detective Inspector James Perez and
including Detective Sergeant Alison MacIntosh (“Tosh”), Detective Constable
Sandy Wilson, and Sergeant Billy McCabe. Perez is the highly skilled group
leader who is often socially awkward but still quite caring and protective of
his teenage daughter, his team, and those impacted by crime. Although raised in
the Shetland Islands, he lived in metropolitan Glasgow for many years and
experienced the seedy side of life as a police officer there. Sandy is a local
officer who appears tough at first but is particularly caring for his community
and his family. Billy is at once a blustery older officer with a warm side that
is more often expressed in gestures and jokes. And Tosh is a younger officer
who is a capable, fun-loving and beloved loved member of the team. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">During
Season 3, there is a running storyline of a murder investigation that involves
a Glasgow mob boss and his henchmen. When the henchmen are unable to convince
Perez to back off from his investigation, one of them follows Tosh while she is
conducting investigations in Glasgow. Ultimately, an order is given for Tosh to
be abducted and raped in order to send Perez a message. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">When
Tosh is found, she tells the Glasgow officers that she was abducted and left on
the edge of the city. Only when Tosh and Perez are alone does she admit that
she was raped. The show captures in painful detail the intimate nature of
processing for sexual assault. All this time, Perez is behind a curtain talking
to Tosh, acting as a father figure and source of comfort for her. Clearly this
has an important impact for Tosh but it also has a heavy impact on Perez, who
suffers with the knowledge of what has happened.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tosh
insists on returning to work immediately, explaining to Perez that at work she
feels normal. However, she also insists that none of her colleagues know what
happened to her other than that she was kidnapped. Perez is scrupulous in
honouring this request but at the same time is careful to screen her from
certain aspects of the ongoing investigation that might be traumatic,
particularly when it appears that a rape from years before is at the center of
the murder investigation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Beyond
these measures to protect Tosh, the rape takes a personal toll on Perez, who
not only wrestles with a certain level with guilt but also with the underlying
mentality of men that allows them to commit such acts. This pulls the cover off
a level of fallout from rape on the community – how decent and moral men in the
community come to terms with the fact that a heinous act was committed by a man.
Indeed, as the season progresses this shock and shame at the abilities of other
men seems to seep further into Perez’s life and sense of identity at a personal
and professional level. Personally, Perez finds himself so disrupted by the
sense that men are too often power-seekers in relationships that he nearly ends
a budding relationship. Professionally, Perez begins to examine the way in
which he – and to a larger extent the male-dominated police force – sees women
as officers and also as victims, particularly when they are victims of rape and
related crimes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Perez
voices his professional concerns to Sandy in the context of the failure to
report the older rape. Sandy at first raises the standard questioning as to why
the crime was not reported and is touched when Perez asks him whether the
victim (in that instance a former sex worker) would have been taken seriously and
handled with dignity. At first Sandy seems to want to protest against this –
speaking, one senses, from how he would handle the issue – and then stops to
ponder how others in a police department, especially in a tougher metropolitan
area, would respond to such a victim. Ultimately, the victim in that case is
threatened and comes to Shetland to talk to Perez and Sandy. When she says that
she is willing to give a statement about what happened to her, Sandy is tasked
with helping her and is deeply affected. Indeed, he starts out by explaining
that they will do everything to protect the victim and to make sure that all
the necessary reporting is completed no matter how long it takes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">At
the very end of the season, Tosh informs Billy that she will be staying with
several of her friends for a few weeks. Although not necessary, she then
fumbles through explaining that the kidnapping was more than just a kidnapping.
Billy’s face goes through stages, from shock to deep sadness to near tears. He
struggles to find a response other than to look at her with sad affection and
offer her a hug if she is comfortable. She responds that she is not comfortable
with anyone touching her and then heads home, leaving Billy to sit down in his
office with what seems like the weight of the world on his otherwise reserved
shoulders. It is clear that this is a weight which will not soon be lifted and
that he is suffering at the idea of the pain caused to such a dear part of his
work family. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Shetland</span></i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> does a thorough job of examining the
impact of rape on the female victim, particularly where the victim is someone
who “should have known better,” in this case because she is a detective. It
also portrays a strong victim in the sense that she is eager to return to the
aspects of life which give her normalcy even if they are the reason that she
was assaulted. Yet it is in the shows portrayal of rape on the community of men
who love and respect the victim that it is most noteworthy and unique.</span></div>
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} catch(err) {}</script>Dr. Alexandra R. Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08488533908874533579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8653857575034975933.post-26981873554123696792016-11-04T11:56:00.000-04:002016-11-04T11:56:06.957-04:00Sweet Lessons
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sweets
– many people love them including, admittedly, the author! In addition to their
culinary delights, they offer windows into different cultures and societies, in
some instances connecting us with the world of several centuries ago. The recent
Japanese film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4298958/" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sweet Bean</i></a> shows how
sweets can also be used as a way of bringing together people who would not
otherwise have a chance to know each other and also as a site of fighting
discrimination.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sweet Bean</span></i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> tells the story of Sentaro, a man who is
haunted by past events in his life, and who runs a small <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dorayaki</i> shop in Tokyo. Every day, he makes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dorayaki</i> – a delicious sweet made of 2 pancakes with a sweet bean
paste in the middle – and sells it to a small group of established customers.
He does this without passion and without even liking <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dorayaki</i> in order to pay back a debt he owes. Wakana is one of
Sentaro’s regular customers and it is clear that he has become a quasi-father
figure to her. We know little of her other than that she lives with her mother,
who seems to be uninterested in Wakana, and her bird. Each day, Sentaro lets
her stay at the shop, have <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dorayaki</i>,
and sends the rejects home with her so that she can have food. She contemplates
not going to high school due to financial issues but Sentaro is convinced that
she needs to keep on with her schooling. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">One
day, an older woman, Tokue, stops into the shop to ask about the posting
outside for a part-time worker. Sentaro is very polite to her but refuses,
clearly concerned that a woman in her 70s would be hurt while working in the
restaurant kitchen, especially as she has hands that he believes are deformed
from old age. Tokue returns shortly afterward and leaves him some of her
homemade bean paste to try. She leaves before Sentaro can taste it – when he
does he is amazed at how delicious it is. Without contact information for
Tokue, Sentaro can only wait for her to return and she does. Eventually, they
agree that she can work for him and one of her first acts is to scold him for
using pre-made bean paste in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dorayaki</i>.
She insists that they make the paste together the next morning and shows him
the many steps involved in making something so traditional and delicious. In
essence, she teaches him to respect each step of the process even if his
current customers were content with the state of the old paste. And his old
customers – and many new customers – agree! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Success
brings attention to the shop and the shop owner drops in one day to tell Sentaro
that he must fire Tokue because she heard that Tokue is a leper who lives in
one of the last remaining leper institutions in Tokyo. Tokue is not a danger to
anyone and cannot infect anyone, yet the stigmas attached to those with leprosy
are still strong and the shop owner evinces that when she describes how the
streets used to be sprayed down after lepers used them. She reinforces this by
using sanitizer on her own hands while in the shop. Sentaro does not want to
fire Tokue and tells the owner that he needs more time since Tokue is the
reason for the upturn in business. After this, he anguishes over what to do as
he sees Tokue thriving and happy working at the shop. Against advice, he
encourages her to work in the storefront with him seeking to defy stereotypes
and biases. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">An
unfortunate slip by Wakana to her mother causes people to turn away from the
shop while Tokue is there. Tokue seems to understand this by the lack of
customers and, when Sentaro tells her to take an afternoon off, she
instinctively realizes what is happening. She writes a letter to Sentaro
apologizing for not telling him the truth earlier and thanking him for the
chance to work and to be a part of society. Wakana insists that she and Sentaro
go to visit Tokue at her home in the leper colony. As they make their way, Wakana
tries to prepare Sentaro (and, one suspects, herself) for what they might encounter
but they are surprised when they find elderly residents who seem to be happy
with each other despite some disfigurement and outward manifestations of
disease. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">When
they find Tokue, she tells them the story of how she was brought to the colony
as a child after the war by her brother because the family suspected that she
had leprosy. Her brother told her that he would likely have to leave her there
and her mother made her a special blouse to look her best when she was there –
her brother did indeed leave her and the blouse was taken from her, along with
everything else, when it was determined that she was ill. She and the others in
the colony lived in the spatial confines allotted to them from that point
onward. They were able to marry, as Tokue did, however they were not allowed to
have children and if a woman became pregnant she was forced to have an
abortion, as was also the case with Tokue. In the middle of this story of sadness,
Tokue becomes happy when speaking of the joy that working for Sentaro gave her
because she was included as society and able to interact with people in society
without stigma. This brings Sentaro to tears because he feels at fault for
taking away the joy she had but Tokue assures him that this is not the case. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sentaro
hires Wakana in Tokue’s place and all seems to be well until the shop’s owner
announces plans that will change the shop dramatically. Around this point,
Sentaro and Wakana go to visit Tokue again and learn that she just died. They
are devastated at the news but find a letter waiting for them telling them not
to be sad because of the happinesss they gave her. They also find that she has
left her tools for making bean paste to Sentaro, who is seen using them at the
end of the film to make <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dorayaki</i> from
a stand in a park rather than remaining at the shop. In this final way, Tokue
allows Sentaro freedom just as he allowed her freedom. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sweet Bean</span></i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> is a poignant story of personal
relationships that is also a testament to the ability of stigmas to continue
years after the basis for their claims have been proven untrue. It demonstrates
how lingering discriminations can come to the forefront based on whispers and
shows how devastating they can be. At the same time, the film demonstrates how
important it is for those with disabilities and those who have been targets of discrimination
to be treated as members of society. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sweet</i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bean</i> also shows the value that these
individuals have to society and how much society hurts itself by discriminating
against those with disabilities and those who have been stigmatized. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
many ways, life is a series of transformation and personal growth – we see this
in ourselves, in others, in laws, and in changing forms of society and culture.
However, it is not often that a film is able to demonstrate these changes and their
transforming power over a relatively short time span. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4513674/" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Café Society</i></a>, the most recent film by Woody Allen, is able to
encapsulate these transformations over the course of a few short but vital
years in the lives of the main character. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Set
in the 1930s, the film begins with Bobby Dorfman, an eager young man from New
York City who finds himself in an increasingly suffocating home, with two
bickering parents, an opinionated older sister who is stuck in an unhappy
marriage, a lecturing brother-in-law, and a gangster older brother. Wanting to
experience the world for himself, Bobby travels to Hollywood and seeks out his
successful film agency head uncle Phil Stern. Phil is a quintessential
Hollywood executive, constantly working and engaging in social activities with
the goal of creating more business opportunities. In essence, his life is a
combination of working within self-serving relationships while also redefining
himself to meet the image he feels he must portray in order to continue
advancing in the industry. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Phil puts
Bobby off for a while and eventually takes him on as an errand boy. He also
arranges for his secretary, Vonnie, to show Bobby the town. With a new friend
and a new job, Bobby begins to thrive, although he finds himself falling in
love with Vonnie, who at the time has an unnamed love interest. However, when
this relationship ends, Bobby and Vonnie became an item and Bobby – ever the
New Yorker – makes plans for them to marry and move to Manhattan. By the time
Bobby suggests this to Vonnie the audience already sees that, despite his
inherent naiveté, Bobby has moved through important stages of life and is able
to figure out a path to some success in Hollywood although he does not plan to
pursue it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sadly
for Bobby, Vonnie’s boyfriend was none other than Phil, and she decides to
return to him and follow the path of the glamorous – yet seemingly fake – Hollywood
wife. With his heart broken, Bobby returns to his parents’ home in New York. He
goes through a variety of jobs without finding something fulfilling to hold his
attention. In many ways, it is as if he has regressed to the pre-Hollywood
Bobby, although with a harder and more jaded heart. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Finally,
Bobby takes up an offer from his gangster brother Benny and joins him in
operating a nightclub, Café Society, that eventually becomes the toast of the
town. In a short time, Bobby grows into an adult who is capable of charming
wealthy and influential patrons and balancing Benny’s less savory traits. He
brings the experiences he gained while in Hollywood to Café Society and makes
creates an image that goes beyond the naïvete he usually displays. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">One
night, Bobby meets Veronica, a high society divorcee who he instantly falls in
love with. They share a whirlwind romance that culminates in marriage and the
birth of a child. In many ways, Bobby seems to have come of age as a family man
and as a businessman once Benny receives the death penalty for murder. Although
Benny’s trial is quite visible, the aura surrounding it only added into the
mystique of Café Society and business continues to grow just as Bobby does. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
then one night Vonnie and Phil walk into Café Society. All at once, adult Bobby
seems to fade into the background and the young Bobby who moved to Hollywood re-emerged,
complete with the vulnerabilities he tried to leave behind. At first he tries
to hide from the spectre of his past but eventually Vonnie catches up to him
and suggests that they get together to chat, with no expectation other than
that. Over the course of several days, they tour the city and relive old times
but at the same time highlight the ways in which each person has changed. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Vonnie
has grown into the woman she claimed she never wanted to be – the wealthy but
fake socialite who fills her time with meaningless stories and friends who
flock to her because of her standing. Society views her differently than when
she was a secretary however in her deepest heart she is unsatisfied and wonders
what could have been if she stayed with Bobby. At the same time, Bobby has become
hugely successful and has everything he thought he could want – a beautiful and
loving wife, a growing family, and people who respect him. Society certainly
views him in a different light than when he was an errand boy for Phil. In his
heart, he feels the pain of his first love leaving him and yet is aware that
the life he lives is likely more than he could have achieved if he and Vonnie
stayed together. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Overall,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Café Society</i> takes the audience on a
short yet intense journey through the lives of two young people who are trying
to define what and who they are and demonstrates how the courses of lives
differ from those planned. The film also notes how the people grow with and
within society just as society can grow with and around them.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">As noted
in a <a href="http://www.jurisculture.net/2016/09/sounds-of-society.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>, music provides the sounds of life for many of us. For the
listener, music has the ability to transport to another place or experience and
can also provide a frame for events and times. The listener might be passively
engaged but is still engaged. For the artist, however, music is obviously more
personal. It is a reflection of the artist’s personality, experiences,
emotions, travels, and society. In many ways, music transcends the individual
artist – or even a group of artists – and creates an image of his/her society. The
documentary film <a href="http://www.songoflahoremovie.com/" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Song of Lahore</i></a> provides
an example of the ways in which this occurs and the impact this has on the
artist and society. It also presents insights into how different artists and
musical genres can come together to craft music that is truly reflective of a
global art form. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Song of Lahore</span></i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> tells the story of the Sachal
Jazz Ensemble, a group of musicians playing traditional Pakistani instruments for
not only traditional music but also songs from other genres. In particular, the
group performed a rendition of the jazz classic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Take Five</i> using traditional instruments that garnered attention
around the world through social media. Eventually, this performance came to the
attention of Wynton Marsalis, who extended an invitation to the group to come
to New York City and join the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in a performance
at the famed Lincoln Center venue.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
film presents the stories of several key members of the group and explores how
music has shaped their families and their lives. Through these presentations,
it becomes clear that music has been a constant source of pride, identity and
struggle for these talented artists and for Pakistani society in general. The
film notes the prior existence of a booming musical industry in Pakistan and
its destruction at the hands of changes in government and social mores
regarding the appropriateness of music generally. This has a devastating impact
on society in terms of cultural expression and enjoyment. It has a more
personally devastating impact on individual artists, such as those in the Sachal
Jazz Ensemble, who saw their craft, livelihoods and family traditions swept
away as a result. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Persecution
for musical performances created an environment in which many artists stopped
performing and others performed in secret, constantly aware of the risks to
their safety. While the political and social climate may have eased somewhat in
terms of its restrictions on music and musical performances, the film documents
the ways in which musicians are still subject to societal ridicule and threat.
For example, one of the performers notes that his grandson was targeted for
violence while walking through the street carrying a musical instrument.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">News
of the invitation to New York City is viewed as a fantastic opportunity for the
Sachal Jazz Ensemble, although the leaders are aware that they must be perfect
in their performances. They begin a strict practice regimen that is not well
received by some and, along the way, there are decisions to drop members from
the traveling group. This is not an easy decision but it is one made in order
to allow the Sachal Jazz Ensemble to perform at its best for its members and as
a representative of Pakistan. Throughout the practices and once the group
arrives in New York City there is a sense that the performance is about far
more than just highlighting an individual group. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">On
arriving in New York City, the group takes the opportunity to enjoy the major
tourist sites before settling down to a grueling practice schedule with Wynton
Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. This is necessary to coordinate
the performance of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Take Five</i>, which
is performed by musicians from both groups. Coordination of this particular
aspect of the performance is quite difficult and results in many artistic
changes and disagreements, demonstrating differences in style and expectations
within the groups and between the groups. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">There
is perhaps no better microcosm of cultural blending and the problems faced when
completing it. And yet, completed it is, and with remarkable harmony and grace.
The performance is an overwhelming success, hailed by critics and audiences as
well as by members of the groups themselves. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Overall,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Song of Lahore</i> presents the many
different layers of meaning held by music. It offers a glimpse into a society
in that has devalued music and artists but in which a core group of artists has
maintained an attachment to and love of its art form. It also allows an
understanding of how music can serve as a cultural bridge between different
societies, allowing artists to speak the same language and audiences to hear
the same passion in music regardless their nationality or location. </span></div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">It seems like every few
weeks (or perhaps less) we are informed through news media of a fresh new
instance of someone who has been released on account of a wrongful conviction.
There is indeed a necessity to be aware of the various possible causes of wrongful
convictions – preferably before such occurrences transpire. Not everyone reads
news articles, and fewer still have the time or inclination to peruse through
scholarly literature or actual jurisprudence. Enter film, television and other
mediums of popular culture.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Mediums of popular
culture are excellent teaching tools to highlight and make visible (potential)
miscarriages of justice and wrongful convictions, in addition to their possible
causes. There have been a number of commercial and documentary films that
exhibit narratives concerning wrongful convictions (e.g. <i>In The Name of The
Father)</i> and the use of questionable police techniques such as “Mr. Big”
sting operations (see <a href="http://www.mrbigthemovie.com/"><i>Mr. Big: A
Documentary</i></a>).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Why look to narratives
told through moving images? At a basic level, they serve as accessible means to
understand or acquire information about important phenomena. As scholars, <a href="http://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/10635/Ogletree" target="_blank">Charles Ogletree Jr.</a> and <a href="https://www.amherst.edu/people/facstaff/adsarat" target="_blank">Austin Sarat</a> (2015, p.4) have
articulated: “Mass-mediated images are as powerful, pervasive, and important as
are other early twenty-first century social forces – including globalization
neocolonialism, and human rights – in shaping and transforming political and
legal life.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Film and television
shows are useful tools for depicting legal events. However, as Ogletree and
Sarat (2015, p. 5) further posit, they “are not just mirrors in which we see
legal and social realities reflected in some more or less distorted way.”
Rather, they argue (2015, p.5), such visual mediums “project alternative
realities that are made different by their invention and by the editing and
framing on which the moving image depends.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">With Wrongful
Convictions Day upon us, I thought I would use this blawg post to discuss a
particular television episode that connects to the theme of wrongful
convictions and specifically how particular police techniques may give rise to
them.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">One of the various
possible instances in which a wrongful conviction may occur is through coercive
interrogations and the production of a false confession. An episode of <i>Law
and Order: Special Victims Unit</i> (<i>SVU</i>) entitled the "Depravity
Standard" (Season 17, Episode 9) illustrates this and other associated
problems (presently available on Netflix). <i>SVU</i> is a fictional television
show highlighting the work of police officers and prosecuting attorneys as they
investigate and prosecute, respectively, sex-related crimes. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNW4DZ-FcBBitYa2Z_hvxJK6rY6M8ydOoTt-Tg5r4IG0v-C4R9OBs7tLAZLegEX_qbpy_exG0YQOabwAHKfQLgfnMnN6bavHMQT11yKkZlfP59SMd8GvtJFnK8csOl3AvfAXV0yvZZHqc/s1600/LawAndOrderSVU_-_The_Seventeenth_Year.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNW4DZ-FcBBitYa2Z_hvxJK6rY6M8ydOoTt-Tg5r4IG0v-C4R9OBs7tLAZLegEX_qbpy_exG0YQOabwAHKfQLgfnMnN6bavHMQT11yKkZlfP59SMd8GvtJFnK8csOl3AvfAXV0yvZZHqc/s320/LawAndOrderSVU_-_The_Seventeenth_Year.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="separator" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO83zsC1aWbkaBAZf0DJWnfqNif8kLa5aFDIOoNIDZPVKDEHTTHv0eAmPHyH7RfP2WRyQ294ncFu3IUzXcrSkj9YIzrJjQ9MaFEhc4GsRhN6c7VgqsC6Djgol2J70zxKbb-qAfYeOJI5E3/s1600/LawAndOrderSVU_-_The_Seventeenth_Year.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt; text-decoration: none;"><br /></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The episode, in
particular, features the attempted prosecution of Lewis Hodda (played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001744/" target="_blank">Tom
Sizemore</a>), for the kidnapping of two children, one of whom he supposedly
murdered. In pursuing the accused with respect to the murdered child, there is
no direct evidence. The main evidence to be used is a confession procured by
Lieutenant Olivia Benson (the lead character of the show who is played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002127/" target="_blank">Mariska
Hargitay</a>). As the episode unfolds, we learn that Olivia uses lies and
veiled threats to get the accused to incriminate himself. Despite the
presence of such techniques, Olivia seeks to insistently project the notion
that the confession is inherently voluntary and provides a legitimate basis
upon which to convict.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">During the trial, Olivia
takes the stand to testify on behalf of the prosecution regarding the confession
that she secured. After Hodda's videotaped confession is played in court, the
assistant district attorney, Rafael Barba (played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1654778/" target="_blank">Raúl
Esparza</a>) asks Olivia if she was present during the confession. Olivia
states that the confession was voluntary and Hodda had been informed of his
rights (thus establishing that the procedural norms situated within the Miranda
warning were adhered to). Barba later inquires from Olivia whether any
coercion, physical violence or threats were used. Olivia states, unequivocally:
"Absolutely not."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Olivia is then
cross-examined by Hodda's counsel, Lisa Hassler (played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0917848/" target="_blank">Robin
Weigert</a>). After some initial questioning, the following dialogue
ensues. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Hassler: Finally, you
had Lewis Hodda in your interrogation room. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Olivia: Yes, where he
confessed to murdering a seven-year old boy. It's on the video.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Hassler: I am much more
interested in what is not on the video. So, you interrogated Lewis Hodda for
over six hours before turning on a camera. During all that time, you didn't
coerce him? You didn't threaten him?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Olivia: No, I followed
police procedure. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Hassler: Did you tell
him that witnesses had seen him with other children who had been
murdered? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Olivia: I may
have. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Hassler: Was it true?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Olivia: Um, the Supreme
Court has ruled that police are allowed to make misrepresentations. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Hassler: By
misrepresentations, you mean lies?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Olivia: Basically,
yes. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Hassler: So, after lying
to him about these nonexistent witnesses, didn't you tell him, and I quote
[Hassler reads from a document]: "Nobody likes a "chomo" in
state prison"?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Olivia: Yes, but it was
a matter of urgency. The defendant had another child. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Hassler: Your Honor,
please instruct the witness to answer the question only. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Judge: Lieutenant, you
are flirting with causing a mistrial. The jury will disregard. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Hassler: What is a
“chomo”, Lieutenant? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Olivia: It's a child
molester. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Hassler: And ‘chomos’,
or child molesters -- are themselves -- frequently assaulted in prison, are
they not?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Olivia: Yes, they
are. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Hassler: So, you lied
about having the evidence that would send him to prison and you threatened to
label him a 'chomo' when he got there. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Olivia: We had good
reason to believe that he was a child molester. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Hassler: And you
promised to advertise that belief to insure he would be assaulted when he
got to prison. Then, and only then, did he confess. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Olivia: He confessed
because he was guilty. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">SVU’s</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> main protagonists are
police officers and prosecuting lawyers with supporting roles played by victims
of crime. Their main adversaries are the designated criminals and their
counsel. Pitted against such enemies, the resort to such sharp practices
projects an aura of justification. The ends justify the means. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">That which emerges from
the scene is the manner in which lying becomes or is presented as normalized. I
am not solely referring to Olivia’s (or her real-world counterparts’) flagrant
lying during interrogations (which is perfectly legal). Rather, it is also the <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/04/26/police_who_lie_how_officers_thwart_justice_with_false_testimony.html" target="_blank">lies</a> that some officers may tell
themselves and the court under oath to secure a conviction. In the scene,
Olivia avowedly asserts that the confession is voluntary despite threatening to
reveal Hodda’s status as a “chomo” to other inmates and thus placing him in a
vulnerable position. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">A further problematic
aspect of the narrative is the use of the video-recording as purportedly solid
and persuasive evidence of guilt. Guilt springs forth not merely from the word
of a law enforcement official testifying but more importantly from the
accused’s own lips as captured on video – and thus the video doesn’t lie. What
is of course problematic is that the video does not reveal all the things that
were said to Hodda prior to his final confession. As some jurisprudence suggests,
while a video-recording is not required, courts may find it highly suspect that
an interrogation is only partially recorded (especially where recording
equipment is available) (see e.g. <a href="http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/2001/2001canlii6363/2001canlii6363.html"><i>R.
v. Moore-McFarlane</i></a>).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">There is an added aspect
to the video-recording that does not get addressed specifically in the episode
which is also telling. While a video-recording is a helpful tool to hear and
see what has transpired during an interrogation, how that recording is effected
can have a substantial impact on how the viewer perceives it. Though we hear
Olivia’s voice, the image in the video-recording focuses solely on Hodda and it
is a close-up. This is not insignificant. Psychologist Daniel Lassiter
conducted a series of experiments several years ago with mock juries using
video-camera footage of an interrogation from two vantage points – one camera
was focused solely on the accused and the other captured both the accused and
the interrogators (See Mnookin, 2014). As Professor <a href="https://law.ucla.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/jennifer-l-mnookin/">Jennifer
Mnookin</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/14/opinion/videotaped-confessions-can-be-misleading.html?_r=1">writes</a>
(in connection with Lassiter’s experiments): “When the interrogator isn’t shown
on camera, jurors are significantly less likely to find an interrogation
coercive, and more likely to believe in the truth and accuracy of the
confession that they hear — even when the interrogator explicitly threatens the
defendant.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">After the prosecution
and defense rest their cases, the jury is left to deliberate. As the episode
unfolds, we learn that the jury cannot come to an agreement on the verdict – specifically,
one (or possibly more jurors) is having doubts about the confession and Hodda’s
guilt. The case ends in a mistrial and thus no conviction is secured based on
the confession offered.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">One gets the sense that
the show is intended to have viewers lament this result. After the trial, two
jurors approach the mother of the murdered child to tell her that most of the
jury members believed Hodda to be guilty. The juror who refused to convict was
portrayed as being anti-police and uncooperative. What this suggests of course
is that notwithstanding the problems with the confession and the lack of
reliability surrounding it, the proper result was Hodda’s conviction. The
failure to convict is attributed to a juror with a generalized anti-police
bent. In addition, Hodda’s lawyer, we are told, is the daughter of a famous
(fictional) trial lawyer who was still seeking the approval of her father -
eleven years after his passing. The show constructs those who show support for
Hodda (or question the methods used) as being suspect and motivated by less
than legitimate concerns. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">That <i>SVU</i> travels
down this road – e.g. vis-à-vis how it legitimizes improper interrogation
techniques – is far from surprising. It is after all a show that is largely
police-officer and prosecution friendly. As Dr. <a href="http://www.cjp.tcu.edu/see-our-faculty-adam-shniderman.asp" target="_blank">Adam Shniderman</a> (2014, p.100)
has <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2318256">written</a>,
<i>SVU</i>’s model of justice (like other Law and Order franchises) is one
which focuses on speed, efficiency, and order-maintenance rather than the
rights of suspects and accused who are presumably guilty. Shniderman (p.126)
argues that conduct by <i>SVU</i> detectives on the show typically abuses
defendants’ rights and are sometimes later vindicated at trial. However, and this
is worth noting, he observes (p.126) that the tactics on display on <i>SVU</i>
with respect to police interrogations also have led to false confessions in the
real world. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">While it may be unclear
as to what extent films and television shows influence viewers (and prospective
jurors), studies suggest that the influence is real. Whether taken on its own,
or as part of a pattern of legitimated conduct, the <i>SVU</i> episode
discussed here problematically validates questionable police tactics and primes
its viewers to find such methods defensible and necessary. Given the
willingness of real world juries to convict when they hear a confession,
projecting interrogation methods involving threats of violence is questionable.
It fosters, at least among some members of the public, the notion that such
means are acceptable. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I end with two quotes by
the United States Supreme Court in the 1991 case <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/499/279" target="_blank"><i>Arizona v Fulminante</i></a> (p.296)
which concerned a coerced confession. The quotes speak to the power of
confessions at trial. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">A confession is like no
other evidence. Indeed, the defendant's own confession is probably the most
probative and damaging evidence that can be admitted against him. . . . [T]he
admissions of a defendant come from the actor himself, the most knowledgeable
and unimpeachable source of information about his past conduct. Certainly,
confessions have profound impact on the jury, so much so that we may
justifiably doubt its ability to put them out of mind even if told to do so.</span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> ...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">In the case of a coerced
confession...the risk that the confession is unreliable, coupled with the
profound impact that the confession has upon the jury, requires a reviewing
court to exercise extreme caution before determining that the admission of the
confession at trial was harmless.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Sources</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/499/279">Arizona v
Fulminante,</a> </span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">499
US 279 (1991). </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Jennifer L Mnookin, “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/14/opinion/videotaped-confessions-can-be-misleading.html?_r=0">Can
a Jury Believe What It Sees? Videotaped Confessions Can Be Misleading</a>” New
York Times (13 July 2014), online: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Charles Ogletree Jr.
& Austin Sarat, “Imaging Punishment: An Introduction” in Charles
Ogletree Jr. & Austin Sarat, eds, <a href="http://nyupress.org/books/9781479833528/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Punishment in Popular
Culture</i></a> (New York: NYU Press, 2015) at 1-21. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/2001/2001canlii6363/2001canlii6363.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">R v Moore-McFarlane</i></a>,
(2001), 56 OR (3d) 737, 160 CCC (3d) 493 (ONCA). </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Adam B Shniderman, “<a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2318256">Ripped from
the Headlines: Juror Perceptions in the Law & Order Era</a>” (2014) 38
Law & Psych Rev 97. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Dr. Amar Khodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12112721819346797142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8653857575034975933.post-53067316350378040152016-09-30T12:01:00.000-04:002016-09-30T12:01:40.196-04:00Sounds of Society
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Music
– for many of us it plays an important role in our lives. We play it for
festivities and for funerals. We find lyrics we can relate to and that speak to
some of our innermost experiences and feelings. Years later, hearing a song can
be extremely evocative of events, places, or people. Although it is created and
performed by an artist or group of artists, we hear it and it becomes part of
our lives and, in some cases, part of society. And yet what of the artists who
give us this gift? How do they create a society that allows them to perform and
express themselves?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Two
recent films answer this question by chronicling different artists and musical
genres. This <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jurisculture</i> post will
discuss one film, <a href="http://www.maestromovie.com/thefilm/" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maestro</i></a>, and the
following post will discuss the other film, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Song
of Lahore</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maestro</i> tells the
story of master orchestra conductor Paavo Jarvi and, in the process, tells the
story of orchestral society as a whole. Throughout the film, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maestro</i> explores Jarvi’s personal
history as the son of a world-renowned conductor from Estonia, who spent much
of his youth in the Soviet Union due to his father’s work. As a child, Jarvi
explains that he grew up listening to music and benefitted from the lessons his
father gave to the family on music and on its importance in life and society. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
was emphasized to a younger Jarvi when his father refused to stop performing a
song that the Soviet regime deemed subversive and was punished with quasi exile
as a result. Despite this, his father continued to support such music and both
he and young Jarvi understood the power of the music they performed as a source
of motivation and support for social movements. Indeed, as was later
demonstrated in Estonia’s “Singing Revolution” in which it broke free of Soviet
control, music has the ability to reach across a number of social groups and
create another society based on its lessons. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Following
Jarvi’s path to the US after fleeing Soviet control, the film chronicles the
rise of Jarvi as a young and talented conductor. It explores the Curtis Institute
of Music, an elite school for highly talented musical artists, where another type
of society is formed, this one of artists who have given their young lives to
their art and to perfecting it. They create a common bond of dedication and
love of music and their art in a way that might be difficult for the outside
world to understand but that provides them with a sense of belonging and place.
This, in turn, allows them to push themselves and to excel in order to create
the music that comes to have such special meaning to society and to individuals
the world over. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
idea of the experience of professional musicians as forming a society unto
itself is further highlighted in Jarvi’s experience as the Artistic Director at
the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Unlike other orchestras, in which the
musicians are employees, at Bremen the musicians who comprise the orchestra are
the owners. This increases the sense of investment and attachment that the
musicians have at the same time that it increases the pressure on them to
perform at their best and to bring in funding on a consistent basis. It is both
a benefit and a burden on the musicians – and particularly on Jarvi as the leader
of the orchestra. In this way, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen serves as
a microcosm of the realities faced by individuals and society – each must
perform at its best in order to succeed and also to survive. In doing this, a
close-knit family unit is formed, with musicians and staff members who could
receive somewhat better benefits elsewhere staying with a group of people who
love and support them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">At
the same time, the struggle to balance the reality of this world with the
reality of a personal world is demonstrated by Jarvi’s own need to balance his
professional world with his commitment to his two young daughters. Throughout
the film, Jarvi discusses this in terms of the sacrifices he has made for his
career and, as his children begin to grow up, the professional sacrifices he is
willing to make so that he can be an involved part of their lives.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maestro</i>, the audience experiences more
than the story of music and the enjoyment of hearing beautiful performances by leading
artists in the world. The film exposes the reality of the music that is enjoyed
by millions across the world, from the study needed to become an elite musician
to the way that a world-class orchestra functions to the struggle involved in
balancing the personal and professional lives of musicians. By exposing these
struggles, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maestro</i> highlights the
ways in which classical music, a genre that some view as out-dated, in fact
reflects the realties and struggles of modern society in the lives of the
musicians who perform it as much as in the emotions it conveys and evokes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Maestro</span></i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> brings to light the many forms of
society that form around music and why those societies are necessary in order
to create music that reaches listeners across the world. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maestro</i> further highlights the role that audiences have in creating
yet another society, one in which music is a unifying theme in itself and can
act as a facilitator for other movements. </span></div>
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} catch(err) {}</script>Dr. Alexandra R. Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08488533908874533579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8653857575034975933.post-44420204276109872232016-09-20T18:15:00.000-04:002016-09-20T18:19:08.115-04:00Unity in Closing<style>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">After
a week of record breaking and awe-inspiring competition, the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/19/sport/paralympics-2016-closing-ceremony-rio/" target="_blank">2016 Paralympic games closed on Sunday, September 18th</a> with a festive and meaningful
ceremony at the Maracana stadium. This ceremony demonstrated the importance of
creating a global society of athletes that moves beyond stereotype and toward
inclusion and unity in the construct of citizenship of sport. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Perhaps
the most moving demonstration of this unity was the recognition and moment of
silence dedicated to Iranian Paralympian Bahman Golbamezhad, who tragically
died during the wheelchair road race the prior day. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">In
recognition of the many sensory abilities Paralympic athletes possess and rely
on, the closing ceremony began with a display focusing on different aspects of
sound and their interplay with generating other sensory abilities and
experiences. This included the incorporation of Brazilian carnival music and
heavy metal music as forms of expression that sounds generate. Sounds of all
forms not only informed the audience’s experience but also were used as a
background for disabled acrobats against which to frame their visually stunning
performances. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Toward
the end of the ceremony, the focus shifted to thanking volunteers and athletes
alike for their participation. An essential aspect of this was the use of the
epic Bob Marley song <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Love/People_Get_Ready" target="_blank">“One Love”</a> as a frame for a changing photographic display
demonstrating the many different races and ethnicities involved in the
Paralympics. In this way, the ceremony highlighted the unity achieved through
the Paralympic games and the Paralympic movement. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">As is
tradition, the closing ceremony featured a segment produced by the host city of
the next Paralympic games, in this case <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/paralympic-sport/2016/09/18/rio-paralympics-2016-closing-ceremony---live/" target="_blank">Tokyo in 2020</a>. The first Paralympic
games were hosted by Tokyo in 1964 and the segment began with footage of those
games. In addition to providing historical background, the footage narration
explained that in 1964 there were few Japanese Paralympians and they were
shocked at the ways in which other Paralympians were included in society
because of the ways in which the disabled were viewed in Japan. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">The
narration went on to explain that, following the 1964 Paralympic games, access
to the possibilities for including the disabled in society and athletics began
to change in Japan and emerged as the present state of inclusion and success
for the Japanese Paralympic team. Through this part of the segment, the impact
of the Paralympics as a method of creating disabled communities at the
international level and using lessons from these communities to change the ways
that the disabled are treated at the national level were brought into sharp
focus. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">The
second portion of the Tokyo closing ceremony segment focused on the ways in
which the disabled are included in modern Japanese life, particularly in the
arts. It featured disabled Japanese designers and performers who are seen as
the embodiment of modern Japan and progress into the future. At the same time,
the segment paralleled the beach scene used in the Rio opening ceremony to
portray an urban setting in which those with different ranges of abilities come
together and assist each other in moving forward toward progress. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Taken
together, the Rio and Tokyo segments of the closing ceremony created a legacy
of unity for the international community of Paralympians and for society
overall. This reflects the ways in which the Paralympic games helped to make
the world brighter for sports fans and non-sports fans alike. </span></div>
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} catch(err) {}</script>Dr. Alexandra R. Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08488533908874533579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8653857575034975933.post-11804179940621758292016-09-18T10:00:00.000-04:002016-09-19T16:17:53.905-04:00Jurisculture Hits 100 posts - by Alexandra Harrington and Amar Khoday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We
at Jurisculture have reached a milestone. This writing marks Jurisculture’s 100<sup>th</sup>
post. On a (probably) cold New Year’s Day seven years ago this site was
launched with our first post, “<a href="http://www.jurisculture.net/2009/01/envisioning-jurisculture.html">Envisioning
Jurisculture</a>”. In it, we shared our vision for what we wanted this site to
be and represent. Back then we were two sprightly doctoral candidates at McGill
University’s Faculty of Law pursuing our own research under the same supervisor
–
<span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Dr. Fr</span><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;">é</span><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;">d</span><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;">é</span><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;">ric M</span><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;">é</span><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;">gret.</span></span></span><style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Neither
of our theses was directly connected to the interface of law and popular
culture. Nevertheless, we were fascinated and struck by our mutual interest in the
ways that forms of popular culture – films, television, music, literature, etc
– connected to law to produce a popular and accessible jurisprudence. We
created this site as a medium to explore this vibrant nexus. Of course, another
way of looking at it was that watching movies and TV or listening to music
provided a great tool for procrastination while writing about our reflections
through blog postings gave it an intellectual legitimacy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Many
years later, we’ve each produced dozens of blog postings while also managing to
undertake our doctoral research, submit and successfully defend our respective
theses. We’ve looked not only at how law is constructed and transmitted through
popular culture but also (more recently) how the latter can serve as an important
tool for legal education. We’ve looked at a range of topics and themes – Star
Trek, American Idol, Sex and the City, reality shows, themes of resistance,
ideas about equality, song lyrics, ballet, comedians, sport – to name
several.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In
the coming years, we plan to keep posting and writing. In the next month or so,
we plan to launch a Facebook page and Twitter feed to disseminate not only our
writings, but also the work of others. We would like to take a moment to thank
you – whether you have been a reader from the start or are just visiting Jurisculture
for the first time. Without an audience to read our posts, follow us and share
comments it would be far less exciting for us to find and share our ideas. We
look forward to continue sharing our work with you. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Alexandra & Amar</span></span></span></div>
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Dr. Amar Khodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12112721819346797142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8653857575034975933.post-57451688667795978442016-09-17T21:02:00.000-04:002016-09-17T21:02:07.848-04:00Sorrow in Sports<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">There are some things that bring
communities together in unique ways, and the death of a community member is
certainly one of them. Several months ago, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jurisculture</i>
discussed the creation of communities of sorrow from horrific events that occur
in one place but impact the world as a whole. This post discusses the ways in
which sorrow brings together communities of Paralympians in a special way. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">This post is dedicated to the memory of
<a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/disability-sport/37398333" target="_blank">Bahman Golbarnezhad, Iranian Para-cyclist and two-time Paralypian</a>, who died
today following a crash during competition. Mr. Golbarnezhad was 48 years old
at the time of his death and leaves behind a family in Shiraz, Iran. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">Mr. Golbarnezhad’s death came <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/17/sport/paralympics-bahman-golbarnezhad-road-race-death/" target="_blank">whilecompeting in a road cycling</a> event for those with injuries to lower limbs. While
the circumstances are being investigated, it is known that he was involved in
an accident on the descent of a hill on the road course and was brought to
hospital, where he passed away of cardiac issues. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">As the ultimately fatal accident came
during the course of competition, many other competitors were unaware of it
until after the race had ended. However, when Mr. Golbarnezhad’s death became
known to his fellow competitors and to the larger Paralympic community, it
caused reactions that demonstrated the power of sport to form a community that
experienced sorrow together. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">There were official statements of grief
from the Iranian delegation and from the International Paralympic Committee, as
expected, but also from national delegations. These national delegations
included the United States, which still has some diplomatic tensions with Iran.
These statements demonstrated that in the face of tragedy, the sporting
community reaches well beyond the strictures and concerns of formal diplomatic
wrangling. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">This is particularly true of the Paralympic
community, in which competitors have a deeper understanding of the sacrifices
their competition has made for sport. Athletes who knew Mr. Golbarnezhad were
obviously impacted by his death, as were those who had never met him. The
athletes impacted were not only members of the cycling community but came from
many other sports, all sharing the bond of the sports community and
particularly of the Paralympic community. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">During this time of competition and focus
on success, the tragic death of Mr. Golbarnezhad has united the Paralympic
community in sorrow, demonstrating the power of sports to forge a strong
societal bond. In this way, Mr. Golbarnezhad’s legacy will extend far into the
future. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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} catch(err) {}</script>Dr. Alexandra R. Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08488533908874533579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8653857575034975933.post-13318147354917763032016-09-16T15:50:00.000-04:002016-09-16T15:50:33.409-04:00From Violence to Community<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA"></span><span lang="EN-CA">The celebration of sports and abilities
that is encompassed by the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/paralympics/paralympics-2016-with-more-athletes-bigger-tv-deals-and-strong-ticket-sales-rio-can-build-on-londons-a7228606.html" target="_blank">Paralympics is truly uplifting and inspirational</a>. In
themselves, the Paralympic games represent the ability to use athletics as a
means of international diplomacy through the creation of personal friendships
that surpass nationality or citizenship. At the same time, the Paralympic games
promote international diplomacy across boundaries and borders in the promotion
of those with disabilities as part of society and indeed as key representatives
of their states. </span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">Beyond this, the Paralympic games offer the
ability for those disabled by violence to assert their abilities as athletes
and as members of a society of Paralympians that does not regard them as
victims but rather as competitors and equals. Paralympians at the 2016 Rio
games have disabilities from forms of violence that are as different as the
sports they compete in.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">For example, Brazil native <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/06/sport/paralympics-rio-2016-brazil-daniel-dias/" target="_blank">Jovane Silva Guissone</a>, a wheelchair fencer, suffered damage to his spine and legs when he
was shot years ago in his own neighbourhood. Despite the impact of local
violence, Guissone is a deeply proud Brazilian who has been eager to show off
his country as well as his own skills. The results of violence in combat zones
also have impacted the Paralympian community. There are many examples of this,
such as powerlifter <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/disability-sport/36077469" target="_blank">Micky Yule</a>, a former British Royal Engineers staff sergeant wounded by
an IED while serving in Afghanistan, and triathlon runner <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/06/sport/paralympics-rio-2016-brazil-daniel-dias/" target="_blank">Melissa Stockwell</a>,
formerly a first lieutenant in the United States Army, who was similarly
wounded in Iraq. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">These are only a few of the Paralympians
who have found their lives changed by violence and who have used sports to
recreate themselves and give them continuity of identity. Their stories are
heroic and many have used their status as Paralympians to bring attention to
those similarly impacted by violence. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">At the same time, the Paralympics allow
those impacted by violence of any kind to develop an identity beyond the experience
of conflict. It creates a different society in which there is a shared
experience of competition and athletic pride. This is a very deep aspect of
citizenship of sport, one that involves identity and inclusion. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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} catch(err) {}</script>Dr. Alexandra R. Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08488533908874533579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8653857575034975933.post-53403327423696308282016-09-15T17:24:00.000-04:002016-09-15T17:24:31.211-04:00Individualizing Victory<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">The medal ceremony – it is the culmination
of athletic competition. Throughout the years, iconic images have been
generated during medal ceremonies. Athletes overcome with emotion at seeing
their flags raised and singing their national anthems and athletes kissing
their medals in appreciation are part of popular imagery. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">This is understandable since the medal
ceremony recognizes the culmination of an athlete’s competitive endeavors. This
sense of accomplishment is particularly meaningful among Paralympians, who
reach the pinnacles of their sports despite often overwhelming odds. However,
until now athletes with visual impairments have had limited abilities to fully
experience the range of individual accomplishment that is part of the sensory
aspect of winning a Paralympic medal. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">Paralympic medals have traditionally been
engraved in braille messages that indicate the medals received. For the Rio
2016 Paralympic games, organizers involved <a href="https://www.rio2016.com/en/paralympics/news/rio-2016-reveals-innovative-medals-for-paralympic-games" target="_blank">local artists in the creation of new medals</a> featuring internal balls that can be rung to indicate the type of medal
won. The <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/paralympic-medals-rattle-visually-impaired_us_57d856dee4b09d7a688039f2?" target="_blank">pitch levels are different </a>between gold, bronze and silver medals,
providing each athlete with an individualized experience based on their
accomplishments. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">In this way, visually impaired athletes are
able to experience a fuller sensory aspect of the medal winning experience. Athletes
are also able to receive a personalized reflection of their accomplishments
rather than the uniform reflection that is available through the use of braille
alone. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">Very often, media coverage focuses on
winning medals as the pinnacle of the competitive experience for athletes. However,
this only tells half the story – the other half is in receiving the medal as
the culmination of an athlete’s personal achievement. With the introduction of
the new medals at the Rio Paralympic games, it is now possible for athletes to fully
experience the knowledge and emotion of their accomplishments in sound and in
touch. In this way, the new medals are emblematic of ways in which society can
move beyond using a universal mechanism for recognizing those with disabilities
and disabled communities and instead create individualized mechanisms of
recognition for those with disabilities. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">Around the world, well-known athletes are
rewarded and glorified by advertising campaigns and through serving as
spokespeople. Indeed, this has so permeated culture that these associations are
nearly cliché. For example, successful Olympians are often pictured on a Wheaties
cereal box and it is now traditional that members of winning teams in American
football proclaim to the world that they have won and are going to Disneyland.
Across sports, the better – or a least better known – an athlete/team is the
more likely that the athlete/team will have sponsors to cover uniforms, sports
equipment, shoes, bikes, cars, and other sports implements. In this way, the
athletes and teams become the public face of the product. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">Much has been made of the controversy
surrounding Ryan Lochte’s antics during the recent 2016 Olympic games, including
the way in which his sponsors so quickly disassociated him from their brands. As
is often the case, attention has been focused on the sensational news story. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">An arguably more important advertising
story has taken place during 2016 Paralympics competition in Rio. Lego, the
maker of toys, models and figurines popular the world over, has announced that
it will create two special edition figurines of Singapore Paralympians <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37358326" target="_blank">Yip Pin Xiuand Theresa Goh</a>, medal winners at this year’s games. Yip and Goh were already
known as athletes in Singapore, however this has bolted them to stardom within
the country and globally. The athletes themselves have <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lego-minifigures-paralympic-swimmers-singapore-yip-pin-xiu-theresa-goh_us_57d977b1e4b09d7a6880e3da" target="_blank">issued statements</a>
indicating their pride in being portrayed as figurines but beyond this personal
achievement they expressed joy at Lego’s portrayal of athletes with
disabilities. These sentiments have been echoed across Singapore and across the
world, and Yip and Goh have become the face of more than just a brand as a
result. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">Similarly, over the last several days it
was announced that Australian Paralympian <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/37338633/teenager-with-cerebral-palsy-stars-in-sportswear-ad-campaign" target="_blank">Robyn Lambaird</a> will serve in a major
upcoming advertising campaign for Target in Australia. Not only will she be a
part of the advertising campaign, she will advertise sports clothing in images
including those of her in a wheelchair as well as a close-up of her upper
torso. As with Yip and Goh, Lambird’s response to the advertising campaign was
not only personal excitement but also excitement at bringing attention to those
with disabilities and athletes. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">It is often said that we live in a global
community of consumerism. There are many negative connotations to this, as is
evidenced when a spokesperson has a fall from grace. However, as the new Lego
and Target products and advertisements demonstrate, it is possible for
commercial advertisements to serve as ads for products and ads for communities.
</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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} catch(err) {}</script>Dr. Alexandra R. Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08488533908874533579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8653857575034975933.post-88310109290576364232016-09-13T17:13:00.000-04:002016-09-17T07:18:34.097-04:00Life and Death in Sports<style>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Previous
<a href="http://www.jurisculture.net/2010/02/citizenship-of-sport.html" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jurisculture</i> </a>posts have discussed the
concept of athletes being citizens of a sporting community in addition to – or
sometimes rather than – being citizens of a country. These posts have
highlighted the ways in which sports are unifying forces that go beyond the
physicality of athleticism or the thrill of competition alone. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">As a
corollary, this post examines the idea of sports as a bridge between life and
death concerns for athletes and how these concerns can become greater than an individual
athlete through the international attention sports can attract. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Recently, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37335846" target="_blank">Belgian Paralympian Marieke Vervoort,</a> a multiple medal winning wheelchair racer,
made headlines when there was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/sep/11/marieke-vervoort-now-my-fear-of-death-is-gone" target="_blank">speculation that she planned to commit suicide</a> at
the conclusion of the <a href="https://www.rio2016.com/en/paralympics/sports" target="_blank">Rio Paralympic</a> games because she has announced that she
is retiring from the sport. Vervoort’s condition involves a painful and
life-altering degenerative condition of the spine. Since her diagnosis,
Vervoort’s symptoms have progressed to the point where they interfere with her
basic life functions. Despite this, she has remained a steadfast and dedicated
athlete, winning medals at several Paralympic games.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Under Belgian law, suicide is legal and in the past Vervoort has stated that she is
open to the idea of committing suicide at some point. Indeed, she has signed
the papers necessary for this to be carried out already. Media outlets, perhaps
with a sense of drama, made suggestions about her impending suicide seem as
though it would be the culmination of her having met her achievements at the
Rio games. Instead, Vervoort has explained that, while she does not intend to
take her life at the conclusion of the Rio games, knowing that the option for
suicide is available to her has given her hope. Her statements show another
side to an often negative topic – the empowering effect that legalized suicide
may have for some of those who suffer from crippling diseases. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Although
Vervoort has not yet elected to utilize her own right to commit suicide, she
has turned the attention she has received into an opportunity to champion for
the expansion of legalized suicide laws in other countries. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this way, she is using the platform
available to her as an elite athlete to speak about an issue that is typically
not addressed by athletes or sports in general. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Marieke
Vervoort demonstrates the potential for sports to create a bridge between life
and death while at the same time providing a platform for larger societal
issues. As an individual athlete, Vervoort is a part of the citizenship of
sport that has been involved in providing her with an identity and a source of
happiness. She has also found a way to use the status that comes with this
citizenship to advocate for issues that are often difficult to discuss in many
societies. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
week saw the opening of the 2016 Paralympic games in Rio. <a href="https://www.paralympic.org/the-ipc/history-of-the-movement" target="_blank">Founded in 1960</a>, the
Paralympic games are an international competition for athletes with some form
of disability. Many of the <a href="https://www.paralympic.org/rio-2016" target="_blank">sports featured in the Paralympics</a> are the same as
those found in the Olympic games, however there are some different sports that
highlight the ability of athletes to persevere in the face of adversity, for
example chair basketball, sitting volleyball and chair rugby. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
games began with an opening ceremony held at the iconic Maracana stadium. Some
aspects of opening ceremonies are seemingly obligatory regardless whether they
open the Paralympic games or the Olympic games. For example, every ceremony
features a cultural display by the host city/country, every ceremony features a
parade of nations in which the athletes are introduced to the world, and every
ceremony is capped off by the arrival of the torch and the lighting of the
flame. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">However,
the spirit of the Paralympic opening ceremony was in many ways far deeper than
other ceremonies. The theme for the ceremony was “everyone has a heart,”
meaning that everyone, regardless of ability, is joined by the same humanity.
This focus on humanity was highlighted throughout the ceremony in the
celebration of abilities possessed by the athletes even in the face of
disabilities and difficult circumstances, as well as the essential link between
those with disabilities and society as a whole.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
the first segment of the ceremony, former Paralympian <a href="https://www.paralympic.org/athletes/career-programme/programme-management/sir-philip-craven" target="_blank">Sir Philip Craven</a>,
President of the International Paralympic Committee, was seen in a video
traveling from his home to Rio, where he took in the sights of the city and of
Brazil before looking out at the city from the iconic Christ the Redeemer
statue. Craven undertook his travels in a wheelchair and without obstacles or
self-consciousness while interacting freely with his fellow travelers and with
Brazilians. When the video finished, Craven appeared at the entrance to the
Maracana and made his way to the center of the ceremonies. This segment
emphasized the sense of openness regarding abilities and disabilities that permeated
the ceremony – by traveling and experiencing Brazil as any other tourist Craven
emphasized his own abilities and the pride he has in them. Craven also
represented the pride of Paralympians as athletes, competitors, and ambassadors
of their sports, countering the potential for negative views of the disabled
generally and disabled athletes in particular. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Pride
in one’s abilities and openness regarding disabilities was evidenced by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/video/2016/sep/08/extreme-wheelchair-jump-kicks-off-rio-paralympics-opening-ceremony-video" target="_blank">Aaron“Wheelz” Fotheringham</a>, an extreme wheelchair athlete, who performed aerial
jumps early in the ceremony. Similarly, one of the Brazilian cultural montages
featured a scene on a beach crowded by those who had disabilities and those who
did not. Rather than serve as a polarizing space, the beach became a site of
interaction and building of relationships as those needing assistance received
it in a dignified manner from other beach goers. While this might be overly optimistic,
the portrayal of the beach scene was important because it emphasized the idea
of pride in one’s abilities and of those with disabilities as proud and equal
members of society. There was no attempt for these performers to hide their
disabilities or stay in the background of life. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Pride
was also evident in the athletes who participated in the parade of nations
portion of the ceremony. Whether part of a national delegation of one or over
one hundred, the athletes put their full abilities on display for the world. Through
their athletic talents and their dedication to sports, these athletes
demonstrated the perseverance that the organizers of the games highlighted as a
sub-theme for the games overall. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">As
part of the closing segment of the ceremony, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/09/06/paralympics-opening-ceremony-features-amy-purdy-of-dancing-with-the-stars-in-a-samba-solo-on-running-blades/" target="_blank">Amy Purdy</a>, an American snowboarder,
performed an evocative samba dance on running blades alongside a piece of
robotic machinery that danced with her. The dance was highly symbolic of the
relationship between athlete and machine, demonstrating how each can come
together in order to allow the athlete to give voice to her full abilities.
Rather than shying away from the need to have such a relationship, the dance
embraced this symbiotic and intimate relationship for all to see and celebrate.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Critics
are often eager to point out that the opening ceremony of any international
game is often more optimistic than realistic. However, the pride and the
perseverance that permeated the 2016 Paralympic opening ceremony are more than
just for show. The celebration of the abilities of Paralympic athletes was a
statement of empowerment for the international community of Paralympians and
demonstrated the positive nature of <a href="http://www.jurisculture.net/2010/02/citizenship-of-sport.html" target="_blank">citizenship of sport</a> that has been
discussed in previous <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jurisculture</i>
posts. Beyond the Paralympic community, the opening ceremony served as a
statement for the larger global community that those with disabilities are far
more than the parameters of their disabilities, and instead form a vibrant
community with diverse abilities.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Usually,
the idea of finishing outside the medals refers to a competitor who is just
short of winning a coveted spot at the top of their field. While this is still
a frequently used – and perhaps overused – phrase, the behaviors of several
national Olympic committees during and after the Rio Olympics demonstrated that
it is possible for more than just athletes to fall short of expectations. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">At
first, this might seem counterintuitive since one assumes that the national Olympic
committees are dedicated to the success and safety of their athletes. One of
the unifying themes of any Olympic games is the hard work of the athletes and
the pride they bring their countries, even when circumstances within these
countries are difficult. The thought that a national committee would be
anything less than supportive is surprising but borne out by several publicized
events which took place during and immediately after the Rio Olympic games.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Before
the games began, the <a href="http://www.si.com/olympics/2016/08/08/nigeria-mens-soccer-plane-travel-rio-william-ekong" target="_blank">Nigerian men’s soccer team </a>encountered travel delays that left
it stranded for hours and nearly caused it to miss its first day of competition.
When the team did arrive in Brazil it was with hours to spare. Weather issues,
one might think. The answer is more distressing – the Nigerian Olympic
committee had failed to pay the required amount for the team to travel to Rio. Ultimately,
the issue was resolved, payment was made, and the team went on to eke out a
victory in the first match. Still, this was a failure on the part of the officials
charged with providing for the athletes and supporting the dreams of the
country. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Athletes
who compete in the marathon face physical and mental tests throughout the
competition and the only respite they have from the exhaustion of the
competition is from national booths that provide water and glucose to their runners.
At Rio, <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/rio-2016-olympics/india-in-olympics-2016/athletics/Rio-2016-No-water-no-officials-as-Jaisha-struggles-to-complete-marathon/articleshow/53803826.cms" target="_blank">Indian women complained</a> when their national committee failed to provide
them with water and glucose at these booths, causing them to endanger their
results in the competition and their lives when dehydration inevitably set in.
One female marathoner, OP Jaisha, collapsed at the marathon’s finish line and
was hospitalized, causing harm to her health and training in the long and short
term. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
another incident, physical harm was inflicted by a member of a national committee.
Russian female wrestler <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/russian-wrestler-says-she-was-hit-in-the-face-twice-by-wrestling-chief-for-losing-233308501.html" target="_blank">Inna Trazhukova</a> advanced in her competition but
ultimately did not win a medal. After her competition was over, she was
verbally abused by the president of the Russian Wrestling Federation – part of
the official Russian delegation – and then inflicted two blows to her face.
When Tazhukova made this story public other female Russian wrestlers – who won
silver medals in their competitions – came forward to state that they were
verbally abused by the same official for failing to win gold medals. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Finally,
<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-37183703" target="_blank">Kenyan athletes were stranded</a> by their delegation once the games had concluded.
Although there was a set deadline for athletes to leave Olympic village
housing, the Kenyan Olympic committee failed to make arrangements for its
athletes to fly home at this time. Instead, the committee continued to search
for inexpensive flights and ultimately hired a house for the athletes in an
unsafe area of Rio. The area was so unsafe that the athletes were advised by Rio
police not to leave in the evening – with good reason, as gunshots were
reportedly audible. Once the athletes returned, it was announced that the
Olympic committee was being dissolved and would be investigated. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">These
are all individual incidents in which athletes who sacrificed to represent
their countries were failed by those countries. Each incident is in itself
reprehensible, especially when the lives and safety of these athletes were put
in jeopardy as a result. What is notable is that, while athletes come together
to form communities based on sport at Olympic events they depend on national
bureaucracy that does not necessarily share the same dedication to its
functions. This creates two sets of communities that can function at odds with
each other rather than symbiotically as is intended.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Additionally,
the citizens of countries competing in the Olympics – who offer support, pride,
and, in some cases, financial assistance to competitors – are detached from the
athletes by a layer of bureaucracy that does not always reflect their will. In
this situation, it is possible for the national committee bureaucracy to finish
out of the medals in their responsibilities and in the process harm the
constituencies they are meant to represent and assist. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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} catch(err) {}</script>Dr. Alexandra R. Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08488533908874533579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8653857575034975933.post-44172535536998986412016-08-25T14:01:00.000-04:002016-08-27T20:10:12.676-04:00The Zika Cheer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Cheers
have been a staple at events for years. As any sports fan knows, cheers are
ways to show support – or derision – for a team or player and can be as witty
as they are loud. For many sports, cheers provide a sound track to the game and
function as a way for spectators to connect with players, coaches and even
referees. While cheers are in many senses ubiquitous, in recent years, certain cheers
have become synonymous with certain sports in certain locations. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">The
<a href="http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/southafrica2010/" target="_blank">2010 World Cup in South Africa</a> introduced the world to the sound of the
vuvuzela, a South African instrument that many came to regard as an essential
part of the games. Similarly, what started out as a Spanish soccer leagues
chant, “Ole, Ole, Ole”, has now been adopted by soccer fans across the world
and has spread to other sports as well. What these sounds have in common is
their positive connotations with the culture that generates them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">During
this year's Rio Olympic games a different type of chant emerged, one that was
not born of positive national pride but rather to mock the negativity that had
been directed at Brazil as an Olympic host. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">In
the weeks and months leading up to the Rio games there was increased global
concern after the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/zika/" target="_blank">Zika virus</a> was found in Brazil. Much of this concern centered
on the susceptibility of Olympic athletes and those attending the games to the
virus and preventative measures were taken, including some national delegations
issuing insect repellent to their athletes. The majority of athletes chose to
take the potential threat for what it was – potential – and to take measures to
be safe while at the same time not exaggerating the matter or being overly
critical of the host nation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Other
athletes, however, were not as tactful. In one notable example, Hope Solo, goal
tender for the US women’s soccer team, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/rio-2016/2016/08/06/hope-solo-taunted-zika-chants-usa-france-rio-olympics/88340954/" target="_blank">took to Twitter</a> donning a scarf around
her face, a facemask used in beekeeping, and holding a large bottle of insect
repellent, with the caption “Not sharing this!!! Get your own! #zikaproof #RoadtoRio.”
On the same day, she tweeted a photo of various forms of insect repellent cans
and tools with the caption “If anyone in the village forgets to pack repellent,
come and see me… #DeptOfDefense #zikaproof.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Many
Brazilians were insulted by these tweets and there was criticism of Solo before
the games started. What is of note is the way that the Brazilian crowd called
her to account for her statements – during the first game the United States
women’s soccer team played, the crowd began to <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36973853" target="_blank">chant “Zika” </a>when Solo handled the
ball. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">In
the next US women’s soccer match the crowd again used the Zika cheer when Solo was
on the field. From that point on, the Zika cheer became a fixture at US women’s
soccer matches. And then the Zika cheer spread to other venues and sports, even
when the competitions involved had nothing to do with Solo. While some of the
Zika cheers were directed at other US athletes others were not. From soccer
stadiums deep in the city to the open-air beach volleyball stadium on
Copacabana beach, the Zika cheer became synonymous with the Rio games and took
on a new meaning of national pride as well as mocking. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Ironically
– and mercifully – the Zika cheer had a far greater presence and impact at the
Rio games than the Zika virus itself. As the crowds have dissipated and the
games are becoming a memory, the Zika cheer is something that stands out for
the irony with which it was used. In this way, the Zika cheer represents a
method of reclaiming pride in the face of criticism and negativity. The Zika
cheer might not showcase a pre-existing sound that is synonymous with Rio in
the same way that the vuvuzela was synonymous with South Africa. It might not
be a stirring call to action such as “Ole, Ole, Ole.” It is, however, a way of
showcasing the power of citizens in Rio and their ability to overcome
negativity through a very public demonstration of societal power and pride. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Dr. Alexandra R. Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08488533908874533579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8653857575034975933.post-83491953395756364942016-08-18T13:52:00.000-04:002016-08-18T14:13:01.616-04:00Bleeding Controversy <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Controversy.
Every Olympic games has some and the Rio games live up to this legacy. Before
the games, Russian athletes were embroiled in a doping scandal that cost many
the opportunity to compete and saw those who did singled out for criticism, as
<a href="http://www.jurisculture.net/2016/08/laffaire-efimova-piercing-villain.html" target="_blank">Amar Khoday</a> discussed. And Irish boxer <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/sports/rio-2016/ed-willes-irish-fighter-gives-judges-the-middle-finger-as-corruption-allegation-engulfs-boxing" target="_blank">Ed Willes lost a match</a> to a Russian
boxer when everyone expected him to win. He then gave profane gestures to the
judges, made similarly profane comments about the International Olympic
Committee, and took to Twitter to ask Vladimir Putin how much Putin had paid in a
bribe. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">In
each of these instances, the controversy involved was the result of some type
of choice. And yet, Chinese swimmer <a href="http://qz.com/757992/chinas-olympic-darling-taught-her-country-swimming-on-your-period-is-safe-and-theres-no-shame-in-it/?utm_source=atlfb" target="_blank">Fu Yuanhui courted controversy </a>for
discussing something over which she has no control – menstruation. Yes, Ms. Fu
made a statement and became the center of controversy due to an aspect of
biology that still evokes cringes and misunderstanding the world over. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Ms. Fu,
a well-known Chinese swimmer, competed in the women’s 4 x 100 meter medley
relay and neither she nor her teammates met performance expectations. When the
race was over, a reporter interviewed the team about their performances and Ms.
Fu, in visible pain, stated that she was experiencing the effects of her menstrual
cycle. This was a normal occurrence for Ms. Fu and indeed for female athletes
regardless of their sport. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">What is
a normal occurrence became an online and social media sensation. Comments
ranged from support for Ms. Fu’s shedding light on menstruation in a public
forum to shock that a woman could swim while menstruating, with some expressing
surprise that the water was not bloody. The simple answer to the latter issue
is that Ms. Fu uses a tampon during competition – the more complex aspect is
the acceptability of tampon use, especially in China where they tend to be
viewed with disfavor. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">While
in Chinese society the subject of menstruation is largely taboo, it should also
be noted that this topic is taboo throughout the world, even in countries where
“feminine products” are advertised on television. Indeed, it was only last year
that British tennis play <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/06/sport/heather-watson-tennis-sport-women-menstruation-period/" target="_blank">Heather Watson discussed</a> the same issue of
menstruation impacting her playing performance to an audience that seemed not
to have thought of it and was divided as to whether it should be discussed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">In
many ways, there is nothing notable about Ms. Fu’s story – menstruation is a
naturally occurring phenomenon among women in every country in the world. Despite
this, women have become competitive in sports at a high level and sports do not
have exception clauses for female competitors due to menstruation cycles.
Indeed, for those who have played competitive sports this is not even something
one would think about. The community of female athletes has little choice than
to accept that biology is a part of being a woman and that this does not negate
one’s ability to be an athlete or to compete at any time. There might be
commiseration over the physical effects of menstruation or even sharing of
“feminine products” but that is where acknowledgement of the issue tends to
stop. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Ms.
Fu’s story is notable, however, because it highlights the tensions between the
community of female athletes and larger society. Female athletes must live as
part of a larger society no matter their nationality and represent that society
when they compete internationally. They march in open ceremony processions,
sometimes carry national flags, wear national uniforms, and win competitions
for their country. The ability to represent one’s country at the international
level is an honor regardless one’s gender. At the same time, the society these
athletes represent often does not understand them as both athletes and women or
applies conscious or unconscious gender biases to them. The tension lies in
bridging the areas in which there is misunderstanding and this is what makes
Ms. Fu’s actions noteworthy. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman";">In
explaining the reasons for her performance, Ms. Fu told the natural truth and
started a popular reaction that provided a moment of education. This is perhaps
the best controversy the Olympic games can hope for! </span></div>
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} catch(err) {}</script>Dr. Alexandra R. Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08488533908874533579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8653857575034975933.post-27982857083859468022016-08-15T01:55:00.001-04:002016-09-03T21:20:55.264-04:00L'Affaire Efimova - Piercing the Villain Narrative<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Olympics are on again! As always, excitement and drama abound. A recent controversy from last week surrounded the involvement of Russian athlete, Olympic medalist and competitive swimmer Yulia Efimova in the games. As with other Russian athletes, her entry at poolside at the games has elicited an almost expected series of jeers signalling that she does not deserve to be there - in the midst of genuine and <i>bona fide</i> athletes. As Jamie Strashin suggests, Russian athletes have become the <a href="http://olympics.cbc.ca/news/article/russian-athletes-emerging-villains-rio-olympics.html" target="_blank">villains,</a> or as Bruce Arthur states, the <a href="https://www.thestar.com/sports/olympics/2016/08/09/knives-out-at-rio-olympics-as-cold-war-erupts-in-swimming-arthur.html" target="_blank">bad guys</a> of the Rio games. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhi7Q397f27lOAzfWj8ZdDmorHaLCEsKIBfZZornv9bgVdH5B4k83yjnQKgjh8GHstcAG3Et4JNinAG8RuczKEG7lLd2Sxg1TRnOG52hXX919JcPEDspkBb9p6unAGWVM48Q1gx2uv__X9/s1600/1471209472919.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhi7Q397f27lOAzfWj8ZdDmorHaLCEsKIBfZZornv9bgVdH5B4k83yjnQKgjh8GHstcAG3Et4JNinAG8RuczKEG7lLd2Sxg1TRnOG52hXX919JcPEDspkBb9p6unAGWVM48Q1gx2uv__X9/s320/1471209472919.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Why has Efimova's presence generated such reactions? In the eyes of </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">other dedicated athletes and </span>sports enthusiasts, Efimova has committed perhaps the most unpardonable of sporting sins - she was found guilty of using unauthorized substances, not just once but twice. One of her competitors and very recent Olympic United States gold medalist Lilly King for the 100-metre breaststroke competition (Efimova came in as a very close second winning the silver) has discussed her displeasure at the presence of Efimova and others (including US athletes) who have used prohibited substances in the games. To be sure, Efimova has certainly provoked some of this when, after winning her semi-final race </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">for the 100-metre breaststroke competition</span>, she lifted her finger up in the air suggesting/indicating that she was number "1" (see image above). This was a move that did not sit well with King and many others. It should be noted that Efimova until very recently was barred from participating in the games until a panel of the <a href="http://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/FINAL_AWARD_OG_16-04.pdf" target="_blank">Court of Arbitration of Sport</a> permitted her involvement as a competitor (see </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Efimova v ROC, IOC & FINA, 2016). </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images</span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">After narrowly winning the final race,</span> and to illustrate her disgust at Efimova's mere involvement and arrogant posturing, King "slapped the water in between [she and Efimova] in triumph. [King] shot over a stare. And Efimova didn’t raise her finger" (Abad-Santos, 2016). King later asserted "we can compete clean and still win at the Olympic Games" </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">(Abad-Santos, 2016).</span> She further opined (in reference to the presence of certain US athletes who were part of the Olympic team but who had tested positive in the past): "I think people who are caught on doping offences should not be on the team. No they shouldn’t" </span><span style="font-size: large;">(</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span itemprop="name"><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/author/jack-de-menezes" title="Jack de Menezes">de Menezes</a></span>, 2016). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">King is not alone in her views. Renowned Olympic athlete and swimming champion Michael Phelps, who has also competed phenomenally in the current games, has similarly expressed the following: "I think it's sad that we have people in sports today who are testing
positive not only once, but twice, and still having the opportunity to
swim at these Games" (</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span itemprop="name"><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/author/jack-de-menezes" title="Jack de Menezes">de Menezes</a></span>, 2016).</span> He further posited: "It breaks my heart and I wish somebody would do something about it" </span><span style="font-size: large;">(</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span itemprop="name"><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/author/jack-de-menezes" title="Jack de Menezes">de Menezes</a></span>, 2016). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo: </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">AP Photo/Michael Sohn</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Is the reaction Efimova has generated deserved? Should a person such as her be barred from participating? Is it enough to say that if a person has been caught twice for using prohibited substances that they should be banned from the games? What space do we give for considering the circumstances surrounding the acts before coming to such a conclusion? With respect to her first violation, Efimova was subjected to a 16-month ban after having tested positive in 2013 for DHEA, a banned steroid prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). She served her "sentence". Furthermore, in connection with this first violation, a doping panel established by FINA (the <span class="_Tgc _y9e">Fédération internationale de natation or International Swimming Federation) determined that Efimova had been <i>negligent</i> by failing to read the label of the product concerned (see </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="_Tgc _y9e"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Efimova v ROC, IOC & FINA</i></span>, 2016, para 2.3). However, she had not knowingly and intentionally consumed a banned substance.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="_Tgc _y9e">In the second instance, </span>earlier this year, Efimova tested positive for Meldonium, a substance which has been banned by WADA as of January of this year. </span><span style="font-size: large;">As told by an expert to <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/08/10/488862344/olympic-athletes-still-use-some-rx-drugs-as-a-path-to-legal-doping" target="_blank">NPR</a>'s Jon Hamilton, Meldonium is a heart medication which improves blood flow - this in turn brings oxygen to needed muscles thus enhancing performance. WADA however indicated that it was unclear how long Meldonium stays in an individual's body. As such the existence of the Meldonium detected in Efimova's test results may have been as a result of what she consumed prior to the ban taking effect. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, is it enough to just say that a person who has tested positive for prohibited substances should be banned for life from the games? I think the answer has to be - the magical - "it depends". If someone has been found to have knowingly and intentionally consumed prohibited substances, not once but twice, the calls for their permanent removal from the games and certainly from competing in the sport more generally may be justifiable. There is a legitimate concern about the overall reputation of the sport and its competitors. There are also valid concerns about fairness to those who do abide by the rules. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Yet, when the conduct in question falls short of this level of egregious and intentional misconduct, does a one-size-fits-all punishment (and the stigma attached to it) seem deserved or justifiable? Efimova acknowledges her first violation and the FINA doping panel characterized her conduct as negligent. This falls short of the degree of fault we typically attribute in law to someone who does something intentionally and knowingly. To provide an example, as a matter of law, we don't refer to someone who kills another person through negligence as a murderer. Or, in a different context, as the famed United States Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once stated: "</span><span style="font-size: large;">even a <span class="highlight selected">dog</span> distinguishes between being stumbled over and being kicked." </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16znOr1Eo3IaOQYUwxcvy1DAOiz4s6YjzFnQKHdfUZYvBicb6NPy0NVgBrwlirHPvMAClawqs5PaEQuzgrDbs_SmGDHmi_KgYg1Y8UhhJHZD8o8FqNAgVQuIxYx3AbDDgntrIT3aHCJQ8/s1600/220px-Oliver_Wendell_Holmes_Jr_circa_1930-edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16znOr1Eo3IaOQYUwxcvy1DAOiz4s6YjzFnQKHdfUZYvBicb6NPy0NVgBrwlirHPvMAClawqs5PaEQuzgrDbs_SmGDHmi_KgYg1Y8UhhJHZD8o8FqNAgVQuIxYx3AbDDgntrIT3aHCJQ8/s320/220px-Oliver_Wendell_Holmes_Jr_circa_1930-edit.jpg" width="218" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Oliver Wendell Holmes</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Wearing my criminal law prof hat for a further few seconds, what does it mean to serve one's "time"? Efimova was subjected to a suspension and did so (as well as having endured the larger and continuing stigma that comes with that). I am not an athlete (actually I'm pretty much a couch potato), but 16 months seems to be a long time in the sporting world where getting older doesn't necessarily always work in an athlete's favour. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On the issue concerning her consumption of <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/08/10/488862344/olympic-athletes-still-use-some-rx-drugs-as-a-path-to-legal-doping" target="_blank">Meldonium</a>, assuming that she did not do so after the ban came into effect, there are significant problems with punishing her for conduct which had not previously been prohibited. While the criminal law is not involved, there is nevertheless a maxim worth noting: <i>nullum crimen sine lege</i> (no crime without law). Essentially, no one should be considered criminally liable for actions that were not considered criminal offences when the acts in question were committed. Adapting that principle here in a non-criminal context, it would seem problematic to say that Efimova was caught doping a second time when it is not clear that there was a "second time". Is there any clear evidence that she ingested (intentionally or otherwise) the Meldonium after the ban came into effect in January of this year?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">A part of the discourse that we see here is the difference between those competing "clean" and those who do not. The dichotomy between "clean" and "unclean" may not be quite so simple. Is it merely a difference between using and not using drugs? As one NPR <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/08/10/488862344/olympic-athletes-still-use-some-rx-drugs-as-a-path-to-legal-doping" target="_blank">article</a> written Jon Hamilton suggests, many athletes engage in what is referred to as "legal doping". According to Hamilton, legal doping "</span><span style="font-size: large;">involves taking a legal prescription drug that may improve performance but hasn't been banned by anti-doping authorities." </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://faculty.pharmacology.ucla.edu/institution/personnel?personnel_id=45462">Don Catlin</a>, an emeritus professor at UCLA who once ran the university's <a href="http://pathology.ucla.edu/olympic-lab">Olympic Analytical Laboratory</a> indicated to Hamilton that "athletes are experimenting with an ever-widening range of prescription drugs in an effort to get an edge."[1] As such, the difference between a clean and an unclean athlete may not be the difference between those who use performance-enhancing drugs and those who do not. Rather the difference may be between the use of prohibited and non-prohibited drugs. To the extent that the latter are legal and thus more legitimate, athletes who consume them may be "clean" - that is until WADA prohibits the use of such medications. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">There is of course more to all this than just this newly televised rivalry between Efimova and King (which makes for great television). Sports and the Olympics are not a-political events. Athletes' identities in the games are (most) tied to the state which they represent (a subject on which my <i>Jurisculture</i> colleague Alexandra Harrington has written about elsewhere - see <a href="http://www.jurisculture.net/2016/08/citizenship-through-sport.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://www.jurisculture.net/2010/02/citizenship-of-sport.html" target="_blank">here</a>). In the case of Russia, Efimova's country of nationality, the recent revelations concerning the government's involvement in an organized doping program of its athletes has been widely condemned - many Russian athletes have been barred from competing (including Efimova originally). Efimova's presence, as a symbol of her country of nationality (though, if I understand correctly, she has been more regularly resident in the United States in recent years), is a reminder for all present in the games of the Russian government's flouting of international norms concerning the doping program. Lying not too far in the background as well is the criticism of Russia's involvement elsewhere in world affairs - in the Ukraine and Syria. Fairly, or unfairly, the jeering directed at Efimova may very well be for more than just a criticism of her own personal behaviour but a form of opposition to a larger constellation of objections aimed at Russia's defiant conduct both in connection to sports but also to other geo-political moves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">L'Affaire Efimova invites to ask a couple of questions. First, should an athlete who has tested positive for prohibited substances, regardless of circumstances, been permanently banned from competing at the Olympics? Second, what does it mean to be a 'clean' versus 'unclean' athlete where many athletes use non-prohibited substances to possibly gain some advantage. </span><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Note</span></u></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">[1] <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;">As an aside, what can be said of the use of treatments which have little or no scientifically proven positive effects but act as placebos? Believing that such treatments have an impact may provide some psychological advantage to athletes who use them.</span> <span style="font-size: large;">See</span></span> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Katherine Hobson, "How The Placebo Effect Could Boost An Olympic Performance" NPR (14 August 2016), online: <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/08/14/489678956/how-the-placebo-effect-could-boost-an-olympic-performance">http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/08/14/489678956/how-the-placebo-effect-could-boost-an-olympic-performance</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Sources</u></b> </span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.vox.com/authors/alex-abad-santos" rel="author">Alex Abad-Santos</a>, "</span><span style="font-size: large;">Rio 2016: How Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova became the Olympics' biggest villain" <i>Vox </i>(9 August 2016), online: <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/8/9/12408430/yulia-efimova-lilly-king-olympics-swimming">http://www.vox.com/2016/8/9/12408430/yulia-efimova-lilly-king-olympics-swimming</a>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Bruce Arthur, "Knives out at Rio Olympics as Cold War erupts in swimming" <i>The Toronto Star </i>(9 August 2016), online: <a href="https://www.thestar.com/sports/olympics/2016/08/09/knives-out-at-rio-olympics-as-cold-war-erupts-in-swimming-arthur.html">https://www.thestar.com/sports/olympics/2016/08/09/knives-out-at-rio-olympics-as-cold-war-erupts-in-swimming-arthur.html</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span itemprop="name"><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/author/jack-de-menezes" title="Jack de Menezes">Jack de Menezes</a></span>, "</span><span style="font-size: large;">Rio 2016: Michael Phelps says 'it breaks my heart' to see drug cheats competing in the Olympics" <i>Independent</i>
(9 August 2016), online:
<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/rio-2016-michael-phelps-olympics-breaks-my-heart-drug-cheats-competing-a7180296.html">http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/rio-2016-michael-phelps-olympics-breaks-my-heart-drug-cheats-competing-a7180296.html</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Efimova v ROC, IOC & FINA</i>, CAS OG 16/04,
Award (Court of Arbitration for Sport, 5 August 2016), online:
<a href="http://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/FINAL_AWARD_OG_16-04.pdf">http://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/FINAL_AWARD_OG_16-04.pdf</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a data-metrics="{"action":"Click Byline","category":"Story Metadata"}" href="http://www.npr.org/people/2100615/jon-hamilton" rel="author">Jon Hamilton, "</a>Olympic Athletes Still Use Some Rx Drugs As A Path To 'Legal Doping'" NPR (10 August 2016), online: <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/08/10/488862344/olympic-athletes-still-use-some-rx-drugs-as-a-path-to-legal-doping">http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/08/10/488862344/olympic-athletes-still-use-some-rx-drugs-as-a-path-to-legal-doping</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Katherine Hobson, "How The Placebo Effect Could Boost An Olympic Performance" NPR (14 August 2016), online: <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/08/14/489678956/how-the-placebo-effect-could-boost-an-olympic-performance">http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/08/14/489678956/how-the-placebo-effect-could-boost-an-olympic-performance</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Jamie Strashin,</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> "Russian athletes emerging as villains of Rio Olympics" CBC (10 August 2016), online: <a href="http://olympics.cbc.ca/news/article/russian-athletes-emerging-villains-rio-olympics.html">http://olympics.cbc.ca/news/article/russian-athletes-emerging-villains-rio-olympics.html</a></span></span><br />
<h1 class="story-headline gel-trafalgar-bold ">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"Yulia Efimova's meldonium suspension lifted by Fina" <i>BBC News </i>(22 May 2016), online: </span></span><a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/swimming/36354552"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">http://www.bbc.com/sport/swimming/36354552</span></span></a></h1>
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Dr. Amar Khodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12112721819346797142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8653857575034975933.post-20150964153029805742016-08-11T21:18:00.000-04:002016-08-11T21:18:17.118-04:00Citizenship Through Sport
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Several
years ago, during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic games, I wrote a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jurisculture</i> post called <a href="http://www.jurisculture.net/2010/02/citizenship-of-sport.html" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizenship of Sport</i></a>. That post looked
at the many instances of athletes using dual nationality or acquiring
citizenship in a state to which he/she had no connection in order to secure a
spot on an Olympic team for a particular sport. The post argued that this was
the result of a conception of citizenship in which an athlete dedicates
himself/herself to a sport and forms an identity that is based on that sport
and the international community of that sport rather than solely on nationality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since
that post, examples of citizenship of sport have continued. By and large, they
represent active choices by athletes involved in the elite echelons of sports.
These choices continue to be the result of a myriad of situations, from dual
nationality to the availability of funding, support for training and the ability
to participate on a national team per se. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
2016 and prior years, there has been an <a href="https://www.rio2016.com/en/ioa" target="_blank">Independent Olympic Athlete</a> team for
athletes who would have been able to participate in the games but cannot
because of political or other differences involving the country they compete
for and the International Olympic Committee. The Independent Olympic Athlete
team in itself is an embodiment of citizenship of sport in that the athletes
involved have chosen to compete and become part of the larger international
community of their sport rather than fail to compete because of their home
country. This is a choice they make due to circumstances beyond their control –
a choice to join a different community. They have become citizens of this
community through their choice.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
2016 Rio Summer Olympic games present a different aspect of citizenship of
sport – the newly formed <a href="https://www.rio2016.com/en/refugee-olympic-team" target="_blank">Refugee Olympic Team</a>. The Refugee Olympic Team is
composed of athletes who have been designated as refugees by the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees. These are athletes who have fled their home
countries for a number of reasons related to politics and personal safety. They
currently live in other countries, where they are not citizens, and cannot
compete for them at the Olympic level. At the same time, they are unable to
return to their home countries and cannot qualify for positions on their home
countries’ Olympic teams. These athletes made the choice to compete on this
team because otherwise they would have been excluded from competing at all.
This too is a choice to join and participate in a different community.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Much
has been made of the members of the Refugee Olympic Team – and rightly so. They
have suffered personally and professionally, and their freedom has come at
great cost. They also elevate the idea of citizenship of sport by demonstrating
the ability of a sports community to grant citizenship while creating and
reinforcing identity. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
<a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/rio-olympics-2016-refugee-team-8547577" target="_blank">travails</a> of each member of the Refugee Olympic Team are harrowing and reinforce
the strength of the human spirit, human endurance and humanity. However, the
Refugee Olympic Team members state that at the Olympics they want to be seen as
athletes and competitors rather than refugees or those who have suffered losses
and traumas. They want to be regarded as heroes for their skills rather than
for their pasts. The Refugee Olympic Team members want to – and do – belong to
the same community of athletes as those who compete under country flags. In
this way, at a time when they are seeking to define their futures, the members
of the Refugee Olympic Team are citizens of an international community through
sports. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">We
often think of certain professions living in a bubble or those in certain areas
as living in a removed bubble. The many versions of lawyer jokes, for example,
demonstrate a view that sets lawyers apart from the rest of the community based
on their profession. And, as is perhaps best illustrated by the current US
election, there are widely held perceptions that those in different geographic
regions hold particular views. These are externally constructed bubbles created
by those who are not a part of the communities to explain (or mock) behaviour
that differs from their own.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3553442/" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whiskey Tango Foxtrot</i></a>
illustrates the opposite situation – where individuals in a particular area
come together and create their own internal bubble. In fact, set in Kabul, the
characters actually refer to their location and their community as “Kabubble.” Here,
the community is that of foreign journalists and their associated in
Afghanistan in the early-to-mid-2000s to cover the war. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Whiskey Tango Foxtrot </span></i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">tells the story of Kim Barker,
a US-based news writer who is unexpectedly given the opportunity to cover the
events in Afghanistan in large part because she is single and has no children,
making her less of a liability to the network in the event she were killed or
injured. Kim leads a comfortable life in New York City but makes the choice to
become a war correspondent because she is afraid that her life has become dull
and meaningless. She finds herself at the journalist residence in Kabul, where
she is quickly befriended by Tanya Vanderpoel, another female journalist. Tanya
introduces her to the residence and the area, guiding her through the
intricacies of Kabul life – from where to go out to how to conduct herself
while out. She also introduces her to the idea of the “Kabubble,” meaning the
community of journalists and other foreigners in Kabul. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Within
this community, there are different norms and standards, as well as different
rules of protection. These are informal standards and rules made by the community
as a whole in often unspoken ways – if you want to do something that is fine
but if you do not want to partake that is also fine. Conduct that tends to be
viewed negatively at home, such as copious drinking, the use of illegal drugs,
and random sex, is accepted as standard practice within the confines of the
bubble. This is largely due to the nature of the situation and pressures in
which the residents of the “Kabubble” find themselves. The need for release is
personal – the availability and acceptability of different forms of release is
a community decision.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">There
are bounds to the bubble, such as ensuring that these activities do not involve
members of local populations or occur outside designated areas. There are also
bounds in terms of ensuring that local customs are followed outside the bubble
and that the residents watch out for each other. This is not to deny that those
in the bubble frequently fight each other for stories and access to key people
and information, however this is largely accepted as part of the job rather
than a personal issue.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">As
Kim navigates her way through Afghanistan and becomes part of the bubble and
its culture, she begins a relationship with another journalist, Ian. At first
this is a casual relationship, however the bond soon grows deeper and she eventually
uses her personal and professional resources to free him when he is kidnapped. Ultimately,
however, she realizes that he lives for the bubble and the thrill of the danger
associated with it while she is afraid of becoming so much a part of the bubble
that she is unable to pull herself out. A trip to see her boss in New York only
confirms this. When given the choice of positions at the end of the film, Kim
elects to leave the bubble, returning to a prestigious news anchor position in
the US. The ease of her ability to leave the bubble and return to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“normal” life demonstrates the porous and
accepting nature of the bubble itself – it only exerts control on those who are
inside it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">There
are many comedic aspects to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whiskey Tango
Foxtrot</i>. However, the way in which it depicts the functioning of an
internally created and controlled society is an important aspect that is less
often highlighted. There are lessons to be learned from this society – from its
open nature to its ability to function and respect local customs to its
necessity in situations of conflict and stress – that should make it more than
just a passing bubble.</span></div>
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