LEAP wins 2011 Student Social Justice Project of the Year

LEAP Conference (March 11) - Accessing Justice and Accountability in Policing

On March 11, 2011, Windsor Law School will be hosting LEAP's first conference -- Accessing Justice and Accountability in Policing. The conference is designed to explore and assess the various mechanisms to enhance access to justice in policing. These mechanisms include data collection, Charter and civil litigation, human rights collaborations, listening to voices at the margins and law school clinics.

The conference is free to attend and open to everyone. If you would like to attend, please register here.

A podcast of the conference will be available on the LEAP website for those who cannot attend.

There is an essay contest open to all law students in Canada. There is a $1,000 prize and possible publication in the conference book. For more information, click here.

In preparation for the conference, LEAP students have prepared a bibliography of academic articles related to the topics of the conference. To access the bibliography, click here.

Over the next few weeks, LEAP students will be posting pieces on the LEAP Blog relevant to the conference.

LEAP Blog wins 2010 Canadian Law Blog (CLawBies) Award

This year, the Canadian Law Blog Awards (CLawBies) awarded the LEAP Blog with an award under the category of Non-Legal Audience. Here is how CLawBies.ca described the category:

4) Non-Legal Audience Award. In one sense, of course, most blogs are written for a non-legal audience, i.e., clients. But we mean this award for a blog that targets industries or communities outside the law that nevertheless are affected by the law. This year’s award goes to the Law Enforcement Accountability Project (LEAP) blog at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law. Students and professors focus their efforts on alleged police misconduct and racial profiling, and this year included content on the G20 Summit in Toronto and the police response thereto. Most law blogs are written by and for people who work in office buildings; LEAP’s audience is the people who march past those buildings, and it keeps them informed and engaged with developments in their world.

Runners-up: Connie Crosby, the Environmental Law Centre (Alberta) and the WCEL Environmental Law Alert.

Thanks to all of the students who write for the blog especially those in the LEAP Blog Working Group. Hopefully, 2011 will see greater participation and interest in the Blog as we strive for the ultimate CLawBies - The Fodden Award for Best Canadian Law Blog. Watch out Professor Geist!

Prof. Tanovich interviewed about LEAP

On January 20, 2009 Professor David Tanovich, Academic Director of LEAP, was interviewed on C-FAX 1070, Victoria by Murray Langdon on his afternoon drive talk show, Newsline PM. During the interview, Professor Tanovich discussed the origins and goals of Windsor Law's new student-led initiative, LEAP. Listen to the interview.

LEAP is launched

The Law Enforcement Accountability Project (LEAP) has been launched at the University of Windsor Law School. Its launch attracted the attention of Kirk Makin, the Justice reporter for the Globe and Mail. Click here to read the article.

Mr. Gerry McNeilly, the Director of the Office of the Independent Police Review in Ontario will be the keynote speaker at the official LEAP launch at University of Windsor Law School on February 5, 2009. The launch will take place at 5:00 pm in the Law School's Moot Court.

Additionally, the Windsor Star released an article on LEAP which can be read here.