The case of George Floyd and the recent events since his death have shed the light on the ever present issue of discrimination in the criminal justice system. Sadly, discrimination in criminal law is not a new concept, on the contrary it is way too familiar to participants of the criminal justice system. The case of George Floyd, however, with all the attention it is garnering has the potential this time to bring about the changes that are needed in the criminal justice system .

For more about this issue and a discussion about the George Floyd case, please see my interview in Arabic about racial discrimination in criminal law.

George Floyd is neither the first African-American person to die during a police. Many relatively recent cases still come to mind (remember Trayvon Martin? Eric Garner?). Yet the case of George Floyd seems to be different and as a result may lead to changes in the criminal justice system.

Although many previous cases of African-American people dying from police brutality or during arrests were highly publicized, they remained American cases, in the sense that their impact was mainly felt in the US. But this time, the case of Mr. Floyd caused not just almost the entire US to get into protest mode, but also other countries around the world joined in. Countries like France and Canada for example had their own protests and marches (Ontario had some just yesterday). Although these protests happened as a reaction to the Floyd case, they also reflect the fact that discrimination in the criminal justice system is very much a live issue in these countries themselves. Sadly, Canada is one such country where discrimination and systemic racism are present and familiar to participants of the criminal justice system.

Racism & Discrimination

Racism and discrimination are felt at different levels of the system : from the onerous bail conditions that are imposed on racialized accused individuals, to the heavy sentences and of course to the findings of guilt. Racism and discrimination are constantly present when they should not be and now is the time for change. If there is one potentially good thing about the George Floyd case, it is the international attention that this case got and its worldwide impact and ability to mobilize people all over the world.

This case should be the beginning of the end of systemic discrimination and the start of a more just and equal justice system in all countries of the world. Clearly discrimination is not only an American problem, it is, just like the Corona Virus, a world problem and now is the time to put an end to this collective disease. Mr. Floyd did not die in vain and it is up to us to ensure that.

Please read the Criminal Lawyers’ Association’s statement about this issue on the following link and please get involved if you can: https://criminallawyers.ca/cla-statement-on-recent-events-in-canada-and-the-united-states/