At the start of 2015, The Charlie Hebdo attacks thrust the issue of free speech in the face of violence into sharp focus. Various groups became polarized in how to approach censorship, some calling for expansion of hate speech laws to encompass the type of satire promulgated by Charlie Hebdo and others saying that any abrogation of freedom of speech is a great affront to our most deeply held liberal values. Canada has had a wide breadth of constitutional cases that handle the issue of hate speech legislation, which makes this discussion especially relevant to Canada's current regime of free expression as expressed by s.2(b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Kate, Marc and Alex discuss this heavy, dour topic with as much levity as they can muster.
It seems inherently unfair that you're born into a country without any choice in the matter... and that you have to abide by a legal system so vast and complex that an entire profession has been created just to navigate it... and that if you mess up, the same country that foisted these conditions on you has the power to take away your freedom. Justice frequently favours those with the means to pay for it, leaving a large swath of the population woefully unprepared when dealing with rare, but inevitable legal challenges. If you're not wealthy, there are various means for self-help, but unfortunately most people mistakenly think these means are either inaccessible or ineffectual. Jon, Bryan and Andrew will discuss issues concerning average folks' access to justice and offer some tips about how you can make the system work for you.
The Rolling Stones discussed an active sympathy for the Devil. I think we should all bear such sympathy; after all, no other entity has to deal with the legions of legal professionals that must certainly pass through Hell's gates. Joking aside, it's an important skill for lawyers to be able to persuasively argue against their own personal beliefs. In order to strive for an elusive sense of objective truth, lawyers must consider all sides of an argument, even the patently untenable ones. Following this logic, Kate, Marc and Alex will argue against Canada's heath care system, the relevance of the legal profession, and the institution of marriage in hopes of sucking that sweet, sweet nectar of jurisprudential clarity.
Who is the reasonable man? Is he a conglomeration of our socially normative standards? Is he a surrogate for the judiciary's personal concept of reasonableness? Is he well-loved everyman Ryan Reynolds? He might be all or none of these things. He might not even be a he. The reasonable man is a legal term of art that's used to determine an objective standard for how people should behave. This idea has been anthropomorphized throughout the annals of common law jurisprudence, creating the amusing image of a superhumanly sensible individual. Join Brody, Graeme and Franki as they try to reasonably determine how reasonable this reasonableness really is. Reason.
So, you're an average, everyday felon. The police finally gets the drop on you. They knock down your door and shoot your pit bull. Not only is your beloved Mr. Sprinkles dead, but they've also decided to seize all your ill-gotten gains. Your jet-ski, your formula one car, and your diamond-studded codpiece have all gone the government's way. But what's this? The government has also seized your buddy Hank's stuff without even showing criminal wrongdoing. This is clearly an overextension of state power and should be quelled. Or is it? Learn about the wondrous world of civil forfeiture with Jon, Bryan and Andrew on this episode of Pro Bono Radio.
Video game worlds are supposed to be immersive, right? Then how come you never have to do jury duty in Grand Theft Auto? How come you’re never disciplined for your clear vigilantism in Legend of Zelda? How come there’s never been a deep, textual analysis of the space treaties signed between the Zerg and the Protoss? Kate, Marc and Alex explore the ramifications of functional legal systems in the magical, digital landscapes of famous video game franchises and why they would suck all the fun out of everything… unless you think it’s fun to tediously review Mario’s immigration application to the Mushroom Kingdom.
Everyone likes works in the Alternate History genre. From Philip K Dick's "The Man in the High Castle" to that one episode of Buffy, human curiosity has been piqued by notions of divergent universes in which a single wrinkle in causality causes a massive shift in our general way of life. This episode explores an alternate legal history, in which our system of Roman-derived caveats and provisos has been replaced by a societal order based around 'dick moves.' Brody, Graeme and Franki wax academic on degrees of dickishness and the potential legal consequences arising from this brave new world of prohibition and punishment.
2014 was a rocky year for the NFL what with its tacit association with domestic violence. Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice, two massively skilled and famous pigskin-handlers were charged with horrible crimes. This reignited a cultural conversation about the double standard that famous athletes face in the criminal justice system. By the very nature of their wealth and the degree of media attention they receive, they can't help but be treated differently in courts of law; this treatment usually manifesting in more lenient sentencing. Should our society go out of its way to treat them like any other schmuck or should we factor in their status as 'role models' and throw the playbook at them? Dan, Austin and Roger attempt to answer this question and address broader issues of how media attention and public opinion affect the rights of an accused.
The Fappening
Original Airdate: Oct. 9, 2014
On August 31, 2014, photos of nude celebrities were leaked to the Internet. Millions of users, including you probably, dared a glance at the famous skin, only to be creeped out by the whole affair seconds after accessing the material. This type of massive, public personal violation is in keeping with the zeitgeist, where our advanced technology and culturally eroding sense of privacy have combined to create a big, steaming pile of new legal issues. Come away with Jon, Bryan and Andrew as they gingerly guide you through the criminal and tortious repercussions of iCloud intrusion smut.
This is just a little note to note that we have noted our noticeable failure to update our Tumblr content. Trust us, we've noted your notable comments and noteworthy cries for our new material - yes, it has been duly noted! Please note that we will be making a noted effort to get our new shows up soon, so keep your eyes open and take notes!
In case we haven't been totally clear, this message also denotes our best effort to offer an apology note to you. Thanks for your noted patience and notable support - it does not go unnoticed!
You might be asking yourself "why would Twinkies even need a defense? It is well known that they are more or less invulnerable. Well, then, you are misunderstanding the nature of this episode. Today's podcast is about using Twinkies, and various other strange objects and vague concepts as your personal defense:
Feng Shui,
a Leather Glove,
Chewbacca,
Dropsy,
The Kaiser,
The Oilers,
The Radio in My Brain,
James Van Der Beek,
Coffee,
Mitt Romney,
Mittens,
Kittens,
Kitty Sanchez,
Mark Sanchez,
The Dutch,
Dad,
Mom,
Privilege,
Diet Sprite,
The Belgians,
Fear,
Magic Cards,
Lack of Privilege,
Stand Your Ground,
Tinder,
Timber,
Summer Camp,
Eclampsia,
Uclampsia,
Yclampsia,
The Ayatollah,
I'm a Free Man on the Land,
and/or Radio Shack.
Look, if you can afford to defend yourself in court, you can get up there, say any argle-bargle you want and it will be recorded in the annals of reported cases for a significant amount of posterity.
But get this- some of these defenses work (for your convenience, they are highlighted in the above, unfunny list. Pro Bono Radio tries to get through the media hype and oversimplification (a task in itself) and in some cases, even defend the defenses.
Waxing About the Olden Days While Your Grandkids Play on the Twitter Machine or Whatever They Do with Pro Bono Radio
50 years from now, Pro Bono Radio discusses the olden days (reflecting in particular on this week's episode) with her grandchildren, Pro Bono Radio Jr., Probina Radio, Probinette Chaudhary-Radio, and Harry Styles Chaudhary-Radio and Capital One Presents Megan Chaudhary-Radio
PBR: You know, Pro Bono Radio Jr., I can remember when you would post a message on Facebook, and only your friends could read it. And they had to belong to your University, too. They had these thing called "privacy settings, and we used 'em, damnit.
Pro Bono Jr: Okay nana.
Harry Styles Chaudhary-Radio: <<rolling eyes>> Did it cost a nickel to ride the teleporter?
PBR: Watch it smartmouth. I was doing radio shows on the Tumblr when the original Harry Styles was still in diapers.
Probina: Meemaw, what was privacy?
PBR: Well, Probina, privacy was when you said or thought or did something, and you could decide who else knew about it.
Capital One Presents Megan Chaudhary-Radio: I don't understand. How did you 'decide'? Like, after you, I don't know, bought something, or took a photo, or had sex, didn't every one just get an alert on their phone? Are you saying you could choose who the automatic alerts went to?
PBR: What I'm saying, Capital One Presents Megan, is that there were no alerts. No one collected that information.
Probinette: What do you mean no one collected the information? How did they know what you wanted to buy on Amazon? How did your friends know what was going on in your life?
Harry Styles Chaudhary-Radio: HOW DID UPWORTHY KNOW WHAT ALERTS TO SEND YOU???
Pro Bono Jr.: Bubbie, that doesn't even make sense, how did anyone make money?
PBR: Well, it was a different time, kids. Your friends would ask you about your life over lunch, you would see a ton of advertising every day and not all of it would be applicable to you, and you would have to spend time reading a number of things on the internet, or in a newspaper, or a book, until you found the information that was relevant to you.
Grandkids: Blank, disbelieving stares.
PBR: And when there was an election, you would go somewhere like a school or a library and put an x next to the candidates you like and some volunteers would count them up the next day and whoever had the most votes won. It wasn't based on which politician had the most shares and retweets.
Probina: Mom! Nana's saying weird stuff! She has Alzheimers!
PBR: Where's that damn bottle of Stoli...
IS PBR CRAZY? HAS PRIVACY BEEN AN ILLUSION ALL ALONG? DECIDE FOR YOURSELF HERE
Once again, Pro Bono Radio helps you murder the rap and avoid the murder rap.
In this week's episode, we prove once again that Law and Rap are an all time classic radio combo. They're like Red Ties and Blue Blazers, Red Beans and Rice, Red Wine and Smelly Cheese, Red Bull and Jaeger and a sticky feeling of shame, Redman and Meth. You get the idea.
At Pro Bono Radio, we have discussed how rapping can get you in trouble with the law- the bad kind of trouble.
Now, in the semi-sequel, we discuss how it can get into the good kind of trouble, the- yes I will say it- the sexy kind of trouble. The You-SO-BAD-bad-kind of trouble.
As Raekwon once said, you're scarred for life, because you won't forget this cut.
UPDATE: This post contained the incorrect link for some time. It has now been fixed. Oh, and this bar association logo shouldn't be here either <<munchmunchmunchmunch>>.
Let the buyer beware?
Possession is nine tenths of the law?
Observation is no crime?
Victimless crimes?
Bad court thingy?
If you continue to send our restaurant threatening letters, Mr. Adam, you be sent to prison?
Goodness gracious, there is so much legal jargon, legalese, lawyerspeak, mumbo jumbo and argle barle out there, it's hard to know if any of it means anything.
I can report to you that while law school may teach you to think like a lawyer, they certainly don't teach you to talk like one. Unless saying "well, it depends" a lot counts.
Food Should Taste Bland, Cost More, Say Law Students
Wow, you guys, look at all the pretty colours! Do you know what is in those delightful boxes? Satisfying sugar, mouthwatering fat, and tangy, zesty salt!
We won't decide for you. We just feel that consumers should hear both sides of the argument. Listen to THIS WEEK'S EPISODE OF PRO BONO RADIO and ask yourself- do these people even know about the six essential Pro-Healthafactors? (1. Enerjazz 2. Turbotassium 3. Yogic Acid 4. Harmonic Proteins (tm) 5. ULTRahimsa (tm) 6. Tau Neutrinos)
I don't remember that much about the early Harry Potter novels. I'm pretty sure this is the exchange that inspired this week's episode.
"Why don't you cast a spell, Harry, parped his lady friend, Hernie. The other guy, with the red hair, Ralph, looked around nervously and chewed his fingernail. In a wizard kind of way. Harry felt that there were perhaps better routes to get his uncle, Gary Oldman, out of Gitmo for Wizards, such as an appeal on Charter grounds. Harry's boss, Stape, wasn't having it. because Harry's Mom dumped him back in the day. Stape wanted Harry to get back to doing spells he considered useful, like spells that suppressed Muggle voters, or that mimicked the effects of oxycontin. Gary Oldman was convicted of human trafficking, but Harry was convinced that Volmedorp had caused the Wizard Court of Appeal to make palpable and overriding errors of law in their decision, using magic and blackmail. Or both!?
Harry went to talk it over with his articling principal, Dumblefoot. Dumblefoot said Harry should go for it, make a spell, and Dumblefoot would have his back.
So Harry cast a spell and the jail turned into a hippo or whatever, and Uncle Gary escaped. Stape found out, but he let Harry get away with it, the little scamp. But then Stape shot Dumblefoot, instead.
Please enjoy this delightful episode from our brand new broadcasting team of Bryan, John, and classically trained British vocalist Andrew! It's a doozy!
Good ol' Johnny Cash. Now, let's just leave aside that most of Canada's mining industry is in minerals, not coal. And let's also leave aside that the pervading darkness in this episode is in the promotion and geopolitical consequences of mining, moreso than the plight of the miners themselves.
Hey, when has Pro Bono Radio ever been afraid of leaving facts aside? This week, join us as we consider the truths and falsehoods about the Canadian mining industry (and then, in all likelihood, double down on those falsehoods.)
