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69 Crim. L.Q. 377 (2021)
Understanding Gladue from the Perspective of Indigenous People

handle is hein.journals/clwqrty69 and id is 393 raw text is: Understanding Gladue From the Perspective
of Indigenous People
Carmela Murdocca1
I understand now how Gladue is supposed to work and not work. And
I'm the expert. So, I also understand what lawyers and judges do not
understand because they've never been in prison.2
1. Introduction
When I sat down with a young Indigenous man with life-long
experiences with policing, surveillance and the criminal justice
system, he expressed the following: I had never even heard of
Gladue. When I first heard of it, I didn't know what it meant. I was
like, 'Gladue,' what is that? It was the first time I had heard of it in my
life. I've got over seventy convictions and I had never heard of it. I'm
not proud of it but I'm just saying I've got a pretty big record and I
never once had anyone say anything about a Gladue report. What
practical and fundamental questions about the Gladue process does
his experience suggest? What is the role of systemic racism in his
experience? What does his experience reveal about the structural and
systemic challenges faced by Indigenous people, Indigenous legal
advocacy groups and other actors in the daily work of the criminal
justice system in Canada?
The Supreme Court decision in Gladue has had far-reaching
implications for legal practice in Canada.3 In the years since the
Supreme Court decision in Gladue (1999), there has been
1. The author would like to thank Aboriginal Legal Services and especially
Jonathan Rudin and the Gladue report writers who enthusiastically
supported and facilitated the research and implementation of the project.
The author wishes to thank the experts/participants for their willingness to
share their experiences and knowledge of navigating the Gladue process and
the racial violence of the criminal justice system. This project would not have
been possible without their willingness to share their knowledge, expertise,
experiences and perspectives. The author also thanks Bahar Banaei for
research assistance. This research was supported by a Social Science
Research and Humanities Council Partnership Engage Grant.
2. This quote is derived from transcripts of interviews with past clients of
Aboriginal Legal Services. Transcripts are on file with author.

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