Police Carding

You’re walking home after a long day at school and from the corner of your eye you notice a police cruiser approaching you. You think nothing of it, as you haven’t committed a crime.

Not too long after you hear a whistle, or a “hey you”, from the direction of the cruiser and find the officer inside motioning at you to approach his vehicle. Upon approaching the driver’s side of the car, the officer asks you questions like, “where were you going?” or, “do you have any illegal substances on you”. They continue with justifications for the stop, “you matched the description of a suspect in recent residential thefts”, or “we’re looking for an individual who matches your description”. Finally, they end by asking for your personal identification card, or information like your name, age, and address. 

This policing practice is called “carding”, and is named after the requesting of ID cards that are stored in police records. The Toronto Police are also now calling these types of stops ‘street checks’.  Carding or street checks are an unfortunate reality for many youth, disproportionately so, for young males belonging to ethnic minorities. When an individual is approached by an officer and asked for personal information, the individual can decline to answer as his or her rights are protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, however in reality, failing to answer, or “not cooperating” can lead to greater problems over simply complying with the officer’s demands.  

Also, sometimes the officer has a reason to stop you and the authority to find out who you are.  For example, if there are a number of factors that lead the officer to suspect that you are involved in a particular criminal activity, or if you are being issued a ticket for an offence like trespassing or riding your bike without a bell, the officer has the authority to find out who you are.  If you don’t identify yourself, the officer could take you to the police station to find out who you are.  It is important to find out if you must stay in the presence of the police by asking, ‘am I free to go?’  If you are not free to go, you should also ask ‘why are you stopping me?’  It is up to you if you want to share more information with the police officers but most lawyers will give you the advice that beyond identifying yourself, you have a right to remain silent and say nothing else, regardless of whether your are doing anything wrong or not.  

Why do officers collect personal information from the public?

Also known as the “208” card, the index-size-card is used to gather information about community members. It is often justified as a method to reduce crime in high-risk communities across the city. Police are asked to document their daily practice, and are to be as detailed as possible, which includes taking detailed notes of incidents as they happen, and documenting their interactions with the members of the public. This information is collected on contact cards, and is gathered in the large quantities in communities where the incidents of crime are likely to occur. Also, filling out these contact cards is regarded as good police work; the cards have been used to obtain search warrants, identify witnesses, and even sometimes aiding in trials. The information of these contacts cards are than entered in to large databases that the police use to search for connections, persons of interest, and bystanders of previous crimes. These contact cards will also later be used for reference to future crimes.

Another justification for this practice is that if the job is done right, and all the ‘bad guys’ are removed from the neighbourhood, you will be less vulnerable to victimization. This also means officers will be needed in the neighbourhood, meaning individuals will no longer be carded.

The police have been under heavy scrutiny in Toronto, as well as other large cities such as New York and London, after recent research showing that the police had a tendency to stop racial minorities much more frequently. In Toronto, this practice lead to the Toronto Police Service Board asking the Chief of Police Bill Blair to collect statistics on the rates of different groups being stopped, and to address discriminatory practices. The Board will also soon require police to give out ‘receipts’ or copies of the card stating the purpose of the stop to each individual carded.  

On November 14^th, 2012, Justice for Children and Youth made a written submission and presentation to the Toronto Police Service Board about Toronto Police Service discrimination and carding practices.  See the written submission here and link to video here.

This post was written by JFCY volunteer Shawn Malik, a member of the PLE Team.  JFCY's Street Youth Legal Services lawyer, Johanna Macdonald, added some info and expertise.

Can young people get married?

Scenario:

Mark is a seventeen-year old high school student who has just finished grade 11.  He loves soccer, playing the guitar and going to parties with his friends. He is the vice-president on his school’s student council and is a member of the swim team.  He has been dating his boyfriend, Nathan, since the end of 10^th grade and they are both thinking of getting married. They have a great relationship and Mark cannot see himself being with anyone else but Nathan.

Mark’s home life has been difficult lately, as his father left the family several years ago and has not been in contact with them since he has left.  His mother has legal custody.  His mother has had to work two jobs and spends most of her free time with her boyfriend, John. Mark’s sister Kelly is away at university in Vancouver and he rarely sees her. Mark feels as though Nathan is the only constant, loving person in his life and thinks that marriage would solidify the loving relationship he has with his boyfriend.

Can Mark get married to his boyfriend Nathan? If he is able to marry Nathan, what would their rights be as a same-sex marriage couple in Canada?

Marriage and Age

Regardless of how old you are, marriage is a big commitment and whether to get married is an important decision.

In Ontario, the Marriage Act is the law that contains rules about who and how people can get married.  It says that any person who is “of the age of majority” can get married – in Ontario, that means being 18 or older.  People who are 16 or 17 can still get married, but they must have written permission from both of their parents.  If a young person’s parents live apart, or there is only one living parent, then only the parent who has legal custody needs to give written permission.  Having legal custody of a child means having the right to make important decisions for the child, about things like education and health care.

If Mark and Nathan decided they wanted to get married, Mark would have to get written permission from his mom.  He would not need to ask his dad for permission, because Mark’s mom has custody.  If Mark’s mom did not give her permission, Mark could apply to the court to see if a Judge will make an court order allowing him to get married even without his mom's permission.

Marriage and Sex/Gender

If Mark and Nathan wait until they are both 18, they can get married without needing parental permission.  In Canada, both same-sex and opposite sex couples can marry each other.  While the legal rights that come with marriage are different depending on the province, all married couples in a province – regardless of sex/gender – receive the same rights.   Many of these rights are related to property.  They have to do with things like paying income tax, or splitting assets (property and money) if a married couple divorces.

History of Same-Sex Marriage in Canada

It hasn’t always been possible for two people who are the same sex/gender to get married in Canada.  In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that same-sex couples should have the same financial and legal benefits that married couples should have – but that didn’t mean that same-sex marriage itself was legal.  At that time, marriages were only performed between a man and a woman in Canada.

But Canada has a law called the Charter of Rights andFreedoms, which is part of the Canadian Constitution.  This means that the Charter takes priority over other laws that are not in the Constitution, including laws about marriage.  The Charter says that every person in Canada should receive equal benefit and protection under the law – regardless of certain personal characteristics (like sexual orientation).

In 2002, seven Ontario couples challenged the limits placed on marriage in Ontario based on the Charter, and the court ruled that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples was a violation of the Charter.  In 2003, Ontario’s Court of Appeal confirmed that ruling.  From that point on, Ontario began allowing same-sex couples to marry.  (In 2004, the laws about divorce were also changed, so that same-sex married couples could get divorced.)  Within a couple of years, court challenges in most other provinces led to same-sex marriage in those provinces, too.  In 2005, the Canadian government passed the Civil Marriage Act, which defined marriage as a legal union between two people.

Newlyweds: these men got married during Toronto's 2012 Pride parade
Photo from  http://www.thestar.com/ajax/photoplayer/1220160--photos-pride-parade-in-toronto 

Scenario was written by PLE Team volunteer Inez Leutennger, who is a paralegal student.  Legal info was written by JFCY volunteer Leora Jackson, a law student at U of T.

Gay-straight alliances in schools

Read this Xtra article to learn more about what is happening in Toronto

If you are a student and what to learn more about the law around this, please call us at Justice for Children and Youth: 416.920.1633.