It’s the morning after the Remembrance Day weekend, and five of the eight duty counsel lawyers who operate out of a windowless room at 1000 Finch Ave. W are sick or absent. Seventeen cases for bail court have already arrived at duty counsel’s office when it opened at 9 a.m., with seven more on the way. ‘But the court is supposed to be a neutral decision maker who hears arguments, applies the law and makes fair and appropriate decisions. “There are blood vessels popping in my head when I have to take these people to bail court,” said Evan Flewelling, a duty counsel who has worked at this courthouse for over four years. Skinner believes that public education is crucial to changing the bail court system.

Source: thestar December 02, 2017 12:56 UTC