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Distributed for University of British Columbia Press

Putting the State on Trial

The Policing of Protest during the G20 Summit

Distributed for University of British Columbia Press

Putting the State on Trial

The Policing of Protest during the G20 Summit

When the G20 Summit was held in Toronto in 2010, people were shocked to see Canadian police officers acting in ways that appeared foreign and frightening. The riot gear, surveillance, mass arrests, and physical abuse of citizens were all indicative of an out-of-control policing operation. The conflict sparked widespread outrage and calls for a public inquiry, but to no avail. Putting the State on Trial: The Policing of Protest during the G20 Summit provides a much-needed critical analysis of this event. This book shines a sharp light on policing, accountability, and an evolving legal relationship between the state and its citizenry.

396 pages | © 2015

Law and Society

Law and Legal Studies: General Legal Studies


Table of Contents

Introduction / Margaret E. Beare and Nathalie Des Rosiers

Part 1: The Context of the G20 Summit: How Predictable Was the Protest’s Outcome?

1 States, Protest, and Global Capitalism: Putting the G20 in Perspective / Leo Panitch

2 Reorganizing Repression: Policing Protest, 1995-2012 / Lesley Wood

3 Post-9/11 Policing of Protests: Symbolic but Illusory Law Reform and Real Accountability Gaps / Kent Roach

4 Anatomy of a Breach of the Peace: The CCLA and the G20 Summit / Abby Deshman and Nathalie Des Rosiers

5 The Rule of Law on Trial: Police Powers, Public Protest, and the G20 / James Stribopoulos

Part 2: Policing the Event: The Role of Law, the Failures of Law, and Civil Society

6 Policing as Spectacle and the Politics of Surveillance at the Toronto G20 / Kate Milberry and Andrew Clement

7 Integrated Security Networks: Less, Not More, Accountability / Veronica Kitchen and Kimberly Rygiel

8 Investigative Detention and Street Checks / Howard F. Morton

9 International Law and the Silencing of Social Protest / Bernard Duhaime and Jacinthe Poisson

10 Pacification through “Intelligence” during the Toronto G20 / Nicholas Lamb and George S. Rigakos

Part 3: After the Event: The Continuing Impact -- Accountability Issues and Lessons to be Learned

11 Jury Nullification in Canadian Political Protest Trials: Turning Loose the “12 Angry Men” / Paul Burstein

12 Mass Arrest/Mass Epiphany: G20 Policing and the Canadian Wakeup / Julian Falconer and Meaghan Daniel

13 Perceptions of a Protest: Through the Eyes of the Newspapers / Ian Urquhart

14 Making the Best of Bad Choices: Inquiry Versus Investigations in the G20 Case / Liora Salter and Colleen Matthews

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