COVID-19’s Disorienting Impact on
Criminal Justice in Nova Scotia

Delivered by Emma Halpern on April 17, 2023 at 7:30 PM via Zoom.
Emma Halpern is the inaugural Graduate Fellow at the Restorative Lab. Emma is a lawyer, activist and advocate who has worked extensively on behalf of vulnerable and marginalized people in Nova Scotia.  She is also the Executive Director of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia an organization that is devoted to improving the lives of women, trans and non- binary people through comprehensive housing supports, innovative programming initiatives, advocacy, justice system reform and through fostering and developing personal empowerment. In 2022, Emma joined PATH Legal as the Legal Director. Prior to this role Emma was the Equity and Access Officer at the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society. She was also a consultant on the provincial government restorative approaches in schools initiative and has conducted extensive research and project development around building a restorative approach to working with children and youth.  In 2011, Emma was named one of Chatelaine Magazine’s Women of the Year in the category of “Everyday Hero” for her work on this project. Emma enjoys spending time with her three fantastic sons and is completing her LLM at Dalhousie Schulich School of Law focusing on the transformative opportunities born out of the pandemic’s impact on criminal justice in Nova Scotia. In particular, her research interests are in decarceration and relational justice.
Learn more about PATH Legal here: https://www.pathlegal.ca/
Learn more about Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia: https://www.efrymns.ca/

Jake MacIsaac, one of the Restorative Lab’s Associates, hosts this podcast reflecting on issues in society and spreading a restorative perspective. He and his co-host, Chris Jarvis, describe the podcast as:

Two longtime friends, both Canadian – one black, one white, and both men – explore what it looks like to adopt the mindset of an inclusive society. Instead of asking, ”How do we get there?”, Jake and Chris discuss what does it look like to act as if we’re there already.

You can learn more here and listen to some recent episodes below:

Listen to the podcast version on CBC Ideas!!

This special event brings together three remarkable leaders who are beacons for racial justice in the US and around the world. Their advocacy and work for justice transformation has shaped a generation and seeded a vision of a better future. Their journeys for racial justice began together in Birmingham, Alabama, and continued to be interwoven through the height of the civil rights movement. Their relationship and connected experiences have rooted each panelist’s unique work for racial justice shared commitment to transformation through restorative justice. 

The Restorative Research, Innovation and Education Lab is hosting this event together with a number of organizations including: the Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia, the Indigenous Blacks and Mi’kmaw Initiative at the Schulich School of Law, VOICES (Victims of Institutional Child Exploitation Society), the Criminal Justice Coalition – Schulich School of Law, the Black Cultural Centre, and Dalhousie University. We are grateful for the support from Sobeys Inc. that has made the event possible.

Estelle Macdonald, CEO of Hull Collaborative Teaching School speaking at the International Restorative Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on June 27, 2016.

Tags: Race / Racial Justice; Schools / Campuses; Institutional Abuse / Failures of Care

Richard Derible, a School Administration Supervisor with the Halifax Regional School Board, speaks at the International Restorative Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on June 27, 2016.

Tags: Schools / Campuses;  Race / Racial Justice

Kristina Llewellyn, an Associate Professor of Social Development Studies at the University of Waterloo, speaks at the International Restorative Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on June 27, 2016.

Tags: Schools / Campuses; Race / Racial Justice

Paula Marshall of the Mi’kmaw Legal Support Network discusses the future of restorative justice in Canada at the National Restorative Justice Symposium in Halifax, Nova Scotia on November 21–22, 2016. 

Tags: Race / Racial Justice

Prof. Margaret Burnham, Northeastern University School of Law faculty speaks at an event supporting the work of the Restorative Inquiry into the Home for Colored Children in Halifax Nova Scotia. 

Tags: Race / Racial Justice; Public Inquiries 

A conversation about Restorative Justice and Racial Justice featuring Fania Davis and Jennifer Llewellyn. Dec 14, 2020.

Tags: Race / Racial Justice

Mimi Kim, Founder of Creative Interventions (CI) and co-founder of Incite! Women and Trans People of Color Against Violence, speaks at the International Restorative Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on June 27, 2016.

Tags: Gender Justice; Domestic Violence /Sexual Violence; Schools / Campuses; Race / Racial Justice