by Meghan McDermott & Jerome Igbokwe
BC Civil Liberties Association strongly condemns the reported use of force by Durham Regional Police Service officers against Sudine Riley, a Black defence lawyer, inside the Oshawa Courthouse while she was performing her professional duties. We further condemn the decision to detain Ms. Riley and to charge her under Ontario’s Trespass to Property Act.
Ms. Riley’s lawyer alleges that she was forcibly removed from a courthouse interview room, handcuffed, and taken to cells in the courthouse basement. In the process of this aggressive handling by police officers, her headscarf was ripped off, and her skirt was raised. Her head was slammed into a desk causing a cut on her face and her eye to become swollen.
The use of force by police, as reported by Ms. Riley’s lawyer, is excessive and unacceptable. Nobody, whether under suspicion of an offence or not, should face such aggressive violence from police when they pose no physical threat.
Not an Anomaly: Anti-Black Racism in Canadian Justice Spaces
Courthouses must be spaces where Black members of the legal community can safely carry out their professional responsibilities without fear of intimidation, retaliation, or physical harm.
Black lawyers belong.
Racial bias that surveils and singles out Black legal professionals within a courthouse undermines its fundamental role as a secure and neutral institution of justice. Such incidents erode confidence in the justice system and disproportionately harm racialized professionals and community members.
Beyond the Legal Profession: Equality for All Black People
Systemic anti-Black racism in policing in Ontario and across Canada is well documented. The Ontario Human Rights Commission has found that Black people are disproportionately subjected to police stops, use of force, arrest, and criminalization, reflecting entrenched institutional practices rather than isolated misconduct.
Police governance structures have repeatedly resisted meaningful accountability. Police services boards and senior leadership have denied systemic racism and delayed reform, resisted transparency and race-based data collection, and relied heavily on police-led investigations where independence is essential.
Investigative Failures and Accountability Gaps
Following this incident, Durham Regional Police Service initially announced it would investigate its own officers. The Special Investigations Unit declined jurisdiction, citing legal limitations that restrict its investigative mandate to death, serious injury, firearm discharge at a person, or sexual assault. Although information on the harms alleged by Ms. Riley suggests that they do not meet the current legal definition of “serious injury,” the Ontario government retains the authority to expand this definition by regulation at any time.
Durham Regional Police have since referred the criminal investigation to York Regional Police. This decision raises legitimate concerns regarding independence, as the two services are neighbouring agencies that regularly cooperate operationally. To preserve public confidence, the investigating agency should be demonstrably independent, and the perspective of the affected individual should be considered in reassignment decisions (if she so chooses).
With respect to misconduct allegations, the Director of Ontario’s Law Enforcement Complaints Agency has the statutory authority to retain and conduct an independent investigation where the public interest requires it. Given the seriousness of this incident and its broader implications for public confidence, that authority should be exercised without delay.
Conclusion
BCCLA remains in solidarity with Ms. Riley.
We call on all officials with power to confront and eradicate systemic anti-Black racism.
Ontario’s current police accountability framework, like all such systems in Canada, fails to provide timely, impartial, and civilian-led investigations into many forms of serious police misconduct, including most forms of criminal conduct. Given the extraordinary powers vested in police officers, the public is entitled to a system of oversight that is transparent, independent, and beyond reproach.
BCCLA calls for independent investigation into use of force and detainment of Ontario lawyer
by Meghan McDermott & Jerome Igbokwe
BC Civil Liberties Association strongly condemns the reported use of force by Durham Regional Police Service officers against Sudine Riley, a Black defence lawyer, inside the Oshawa Courthouse while she was performing her professional duties. We further condemn the decision to detain Ms. Riley and to charge her under Ontario’s Trespass to Property Act.
Ms. Riley’s lawyer alleges that she was forcibly removed from a courthouse interview room, handcuffed, and taken to cells in the courthouse basement. In the process of this aggressive handling by police officers, her headscarf was ripped off, and her skirt was raised. Her head was slammed into a desk causing a cut on her face and her eye to become swollen.
The use of force by police, as reported by Ms. Riley’s lawyer, is excessive and unacceptable. Nobody, whether under suspicion of an offence or not, should face such aggressive violence from police when they pose no physical threat.
Not an Anomaly: Anti-Black Racism in Canadian Justice Spaces
Courthouses must be spaces where Black members of the legal community can safely carry out their professional responsibilities without fear of intimidation, retaliation, or physical harm.
Black lawyers belong.
Racial bias that surveils and singles out Black legal professionals within a courthouse undermines its fundamental role as a secure and neutral institution of justice. Such incidents erode confidence in the justice system and disproportionately harm racialized professionals and community members.
Beyond the Legal Profession: Equality for All Black People
Systemic anti-Black racism in policing in Ontario and across Canada is well documented. The Ontario Human Rights Commission has found that Black people are disproportionately subjected to police stops, use of force, arrest, and criminalization, reflecting entrenched institutional practices rather than isolated misconduct.
Police governance structures have repeatedly resisted meaningful accountability. Police services boards and senior leadership have denied systemic racism and delayed reform, resisted transparency and race-based data collection, and relied heavily on police-led investigations where independence is essential.
Investigative Failures and Accountability Gaps
Following this incident, Durham Regional Police Service initially announced it would investigate its own officers. The Special Investigations Unit declined jurisdiction, citing legal limitations that restrict its investigative mandate to death, serious injury, firearm discharge at a person, or sexual assault. Although information on the harms alleged by Ms. Riley suggests that they do not meet the current legal definition of “serious injury,” the Ontario government retains the authority to expand this definition by regulation at any time.
Durham Regional Police have since referred the criminal investigation to York Regional Police. This decision raises legitimate concerns regarding independence, as the two services are neighbouring agencies that regularly cooperate operationally. To preserve public confidence, the investigating agency should be demonstrably independent, and the perspective of the affected individual should be considered in reassignment decisions (if she so chooses).
With respect to misconduct allegations, the Director of Ontario’s Law Enforcement Complaints Agency has the statutory authority to retain and conduct an independent investigation where the public interest requires it. Given the seriousness of this incident and its broader implications for public confidence, that authority should be exercised without delay.
Conclusion
BCCLA remains in solidarity with Ms. Riley.
We call on all officials with power to confront and eradicate systemic anti-Black racism.
Ontario’s current police accountability framework, like all such systems in Canada, fails to provide timely, impartial, and civilian-led investigations into many forms of serious police misconduct, including most forms of criminal conduct. Given the extraordinary powers vested in police officers, the public is entitled to a system of oversight that is transparent, independent, and beyond reproach.
CIVIL LIBERTIES CAN’T PROTECT THEMSELVES