Search results for ""Author Christopher P. Manfredi""

Since 1980, the Canadian women’s movement has been an active participant in constitutional politics and Charter litigation. This book, through its focus on the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), presents a compelling examination of how Canadian feminists became key actors in developing the constitutional doctrine of equality, and how they mobilized that doctrine to support the movement’s policy agenda.The case of LEAF, an organization that had as its goal the use of Charter litigation to influence legal rules and public policy, provides rich ground for Manfredi’s keen analysis of legal mobilization. In a multitude of areas such as abortion, pornography, sexual assault, family law, and gay and lesbian rights, LEAF has intervened before the Supreme Court to bring its understanding of equality to bear on legal policy development. This study offers a deft examination of LEAF’s arguments and seeks to understand how they affected the Court’s consideration of the issues. Perhaps most importantly, it also contemplates the longterm effects of the mobilization, and considers the social impact of the legal doctrine that has emerged from LEAF cases.A major contribution to law and society studies, Feminist Activism in the Supreme Court is unparalleled in its analysis of legal mobilization as an effective strategy for social movements. It will be widely read and welcomed by legal scholars, political scientists, lawyers, feminists, and activists.

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Since 1980, the Canadian women’s movement has been an active participant in constitutional politics and Charter litigation. This book, through its focus on the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), presents a compelling examination of how Canadian feminists became key actors in developing the constitutional doctrine of equality, and how they mobilized that doctrine to support the movement’s policy agenda.The case of LEAF, an organization that had as its goal the use of Charter litigation to influence legal rules and public policy, provides rich ground for Manfredi’s keen analysis of legal mobilization. In a multitude of areas such as abortion, pornography, sexual assault, family law, and gay and lesbian rights, LEAF has intervened before the Supreme Court to bring its understanding of equality to bear on legal policy development. This study offers a deft examination of LEAF’s arguments and seeks to understand how they affected the Court’s consideration of the issues. Perhaps most importantly, it also contemplates the longterm effects of the mobilization, and considers the social impact of the legal doctrine that has emerged from LEAF cases.A major contribution to law and society studies, Feminist Activism in the Supreme Court is unparalleled in its analysis of legal mobilization as an effective strategy for social movements. It will be widely read and welcomed by legal scholars, political scientists, lawyers, feminists, and activists.

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Since the introduction of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982, individuals and organizations have increasingly turned to the courts to try to bring about policy change in areas such as health care. Health Care and the Charter explores the systematic use of Charter litigation in the area of health care and the ultimate policy impact of the resulting judicial decisions. Christopher P. Manfredi and Antonia Maioni examine three of the most controversial Supreme Court decisions in recent years. Eldridge (1997) and Auton (2004) invited the Court to extend the scope of publicly funded services, while Chaouilli (2005) asked the Court to allow private health services. This book explores the paths that brought litigants to the Court, the arguments and evidence they mustered to support their positions, and the substance of the victory or defeat the Court provided them. The volume then assesses the ultimate impact of these cases in both policy and political terms.

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The introduction of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 was accompanied by much fanfare and public debate, and the Charter remains the subject of controversy twenty-five years later. Contested Constitutionalism does not celebrate the Charter; rather it offers a critique by distinguished scholars of law and political science of its effect on democracy, judicial power, and the place of Quebec and Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Employing a diversity of methodological approaches, contributors explore three themes: governance and institutions, policy making and the courts, and citizenship and identity politics. The influence of the Charter has been profound, they conclude, but has it been beneficial?This thoughtful volume shifts the focus of debate from the Charter’s appropriateness to its impact – for better or worse – on political institutions, public policy, and conceptions of citizenship.

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