Bad Attitude(s) on Trial is a critical analysis of pornography in the context of contemporary Canada. The notion that pornography both reflects sexual domination and 'victimizes' women has recently found expression in law in the landmark Canadian Supreme Court decision of R. v. Butler (1992). Many feminists embrace this new law as progressive, but in the post-Butler years, straight, mainstream pornography is still flourishing, while sexual representations that challenge conventional notions of sexuality, such as those centering on gay and lesbian sex and s/m sex, are the focus of censorship. It is the censorship of sexual others that the authors critique from a legal, cultural, gay, and philosophical standpoint. Lise Gotell examines the intervention of the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) in the Butler decision and provides an overview of socio-legal debates on pornography and censorship. Brenda Cossman examines the Butler decision itself and challenges the dominant reading of this case as a feminist victory. Becki Ross critically examines the expert testimony she delivered in defense of Bad Attitude, an American lesbian sex magazine seized by police from Glad Day Bookshop in Toronto in 1992. She details the difficulties she encountered in explicating and contextualizing the specificities, nuances, and complexities of lesbian s/m fantasy in a court of law. In the final chapter, Shannon Bell advances a conception of pornography that is not distinguishable from philosophy, using philosophy to make pornography. Bad Attitude(s) on Trial provides a new debate on pornography and feminism. It will be of particular interest to students of both women's, and gay and lesbian issues, but will also be relevant for scholars of law, political science, and philosophy, as well as for anyone interested in a different, provocative view of the Butler decision.

How do they do it? How do the countless people facing sudden family deaths, financial burden, and divorce persevere and face another day? In Trials: Now What? Lorraine Holman reveals that a thankful heart and following scriptural advice will help those facing difficult times to rise up and overcome. She has faced trials in her own life, including finding out that her son was addicted to drugs, and has drawn upon those experiences to help others in similar situations. Whether your trial is new or has plagued you for years, you will find Lorraine Holman's suggestions relevant and immensely helpful. Trials: Now What? explores over forty ways to overcome trials and emerge with a renewed sense of hope and gratitude. Lorraine's down-to-earth, sometimes humorous way of looking at life's trying times will resonate with women of all ages, helping them to discover why the question Trials: Now What? will plague them no longer.

Since 1980, the Canadian women's movement has been an active participant in consitutional politics and Charter litigation. This book, through its focus on the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), presents a compelling examination of how Canadian feminists became key actors in developing the constitutional doctrine of equality, and how they mobilized that doctrine to support the movement's policy agenda. The case of LEAF, an organization that has as its goal the use of Charter litigation to influence legal rules and public policy, provides rich ground for Christopher Manfredi's keen analysis of legal mobilization. In a multitude of areas such as abortion, pornography, sexual assault, family law, and gay and lesbian rights, LEAF has intervened before the Supreme Court to bring its understanding of equality to bear on legal policy development. This study offers a deft examination of LEAF's arguments and seeks to understand how they affected the Court's consideration of the issues. Perhaps most important, it also contemplates the long-term effects of the mobilization, and considers the social impact of the legal doctrine that has emerged from LEAF cases. A major contribution to law and society studies, Feminist Activism in the Supreme Court is unparalleled in its analysis of legal mobilization as an effective strategy for social movements. It will be widely read and welcomed by legal scholars, political scientists, lawyers, feminists, and activists.

"In well-organized chapters on the trial's characters, rehearsal techniques, audience, props, plot, & point of view, Ball's book provides useful advice to novice & experience legal actors. "Even those who never try a jury case will learn a lot about audience persuasion which is a crucial skill in many theaters of a lawyer's life besides producer, theater professor & trial consultant has woven together a highly readable compendium of "how to's" & "how not to's" for trial lawyers. I highly recommend this book for trial attorneys with limited experience. Even seasoned trial attorneys will find Mr. Ball's book a valuable mini-refresher course. The book shows trial lawyers how to use concepts from theater to persuade & motivate. After all, there is no finer stage than the courtroom & no In this revised & expanded second edition, Ball provides practical guidance for voir dire, openings & closings, testimony, & focus groups. He describes what practitioners can learn from actors about their manner, voice projection, & behavior. He tells how to grab the jury from the beginning just as a good movie opening captures the audience. He details the preparation of your "cast" of witnesses so they testify clearly, credibly, & memorably. And he offers advice on telling your story so that it commands attention & motivates jurors to argue for your side.

This work examines evidence in North American obscenity trials revealing how little consensus there is among those who purport to know best about the nature of artistic representation, human sexuality and the psychological and behavioural effects of digesting explicit sexual narratives and imagery.

Theorizing Feminist Policy avoids the usual clash between feminist analysis and non-feminist social science in mapping out the new field of feminist comparative policy. Instead, it intersects empirical feminist policy analysis with non-feminist policy studies to define and contribute to this new and emerging field of study. Consulting a wide sweep of empirical and theoretical work, the book first defines Feminist Comparative Policy showing how it dialogs with the adjacent non-feminist areas of Comparative Public Policy, Comparative Politics, and Public Policy Studies. Theorizing Feminist Policy seeks then to strengthen one of the weakest links of this new area - the study of explicitly feminist government action. In the remaining chapters, the books defines feminist policy as a separate sector, with eight sub sectors - blueprint, political representation, equal employment, reconciliation, family law, reproductive rights, sexuality and violence, and public service delivery. It develops a qualitative and comparative framework for analysing the profiles and styles of feminist policy in post industrial democracies and uses the framework to examine twenty seven different cases of feminist policy formation across thirteen different countries. The initial empirical study makes a case for feminist policy as a new sector of state action, concluding tentatively that successful feminist policy formation is a subtle combination of feminist strategic partnerships, non feminist support, institutions, culture, and international influences. These tentative findings also shed new light on the perennial questions of comparative politics and policy: do politics, institutions, national policy style, sector, institutions, or culture matter the most in determining policy processes and outcomes? The books finishes by suggesting the next steps in developing comparative theories of feminist policy formation. Theorising Feminist Policy, therefore, goes beyond just describing the dimensions of feminist policy from existing literature, it seeks to systematically contribute to comparative theories of how the contemporary post-industrial state has taken on social change at the beginning of the 21st century.

In its roughly 25 years of existence, the trial consulting profession has grown dramatically in membership, recognition, and breadth of practice. What began as a small activist group of social scientists volunteering their expertise to assist in the defense of Vietnam War protestors has evolved into a diverse set of professionals from a range of educational and professional backgrounds. In spite of such enormous growth, the work of trial consultants has gone largely unexamined. Trial Consulting takes an in-depth look at the primary activities of trial consultants, including witness preparation, focus groups and mock trials, jury selection, change of venue surveys, and attorney presentation style. It also examines the profession's struggle to define itself, resisting certification and licensure requirements and settling instead for a set of practice standards. The authors draw upon empirical and other scholarly work in the social sciences, recommended "best practices" from trial lawyers, and the written and spoken recommendations and reflections of the trial consultants themselves. Addressing a broad spectrum of topics ranging from handwriting analysis to medical malpractice cases, they also suggest reforms for improving the profession and the efficacy of the trial consultant in the courtroom. The result is a critical analysis of what trial consulting truly adds to, and detracts from, the administration of justice. This book is an indispensable guide for practicing and aspiring trial consultants as well as the judges, attorneys, and psychologists who work with them. Trial Consulting provides a thought-provoking statement on the state of the profession, and students and professionals alike will benefit from the challenges it offers.