Probes

This page is dedicated to sharing various explorations in sensori-legal studies written by members of the Law and the Senses research team, certain of their students (both past and present), and invited guests.

We call these essays “probes,” following Marshall McLuhan’s use of this term in Laws of Media, and elsewhere.

All of the views and opinions expressed in the following probes are exclusively those of their respective authors.

Robot Rights: Sentience as a Basis for Moral Rights

By Alexandra Champagne

 

 

Psychological “Data”: Android as Autistic Metaphor

By Casey Broughton

 

 

“Cripping” the Commons: Tracing the Developments and Contours of the Disability Rights Movement

By Elise Mallette

 

Hitting the Press: The Politics of Touch in the Wapping Dispute

By Charlie Bond

 

Should Justice Be Blind? Towards Meaningful Cross-Cultural Jurisprudence in Canadian Indigenous Rights Cases

By Suzy Newing

 

Muck Rake Marx

By Charlie Bond

 

 

The Sensing State, the Ghostly Will: Enforcing Agreements in Ancient Rome and Today

By Alex McPhail

 

In the Dock: The Impact of Courtroom Architecture on Judicial Procedure and Perceptions

By Shoshana Paget

 

A person using a computer Description automatically generatedTelehealth During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Social and Regulatory Considerations

By Danielle Maor

 

The Establishment of Justice: A sensori-legal analysis of the physical structures of the Supreme Court of Canada, India, and South Africa Buildings

By Ella Leishman-Cyr

 

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Legal Pluralism & the Art of Living Together

By Alanna Crouse

 

 

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What’s in a Name?: A Comparative Analysis of Language in Anishinaabe and Canadian Law

By Olivia Huynh

 

 

The Normative Imperative of Sound

By Matthew P. Unger

 

 

Blind Faith in Visual Evidence: lie detection, fMRIs and the shift away from oral evidence

By Eva Monteiro

 

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Cream of the Crop: Exploring the Protection of Recipes among Chefs

By Danielle Maor

 

Sniffing and Snarling: K-9s and the Law

By Simcha Walfish

 

 

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Objective Justice, Subjective Pain: A fresh look at pain and suffering in torts through the lens of neurolaw

By Eva Monteiro

 

Dialogic Probe on the Atmosphere of Law: A conversation between Florencia Marchetti and David Howes

By Florencia Marchetti and David Howes

 

Perceptual Distortions and Police Use of Force

By Simcha Walfish

 

 

A Right to Civic Duty: Jury Duty for the Deaf

By Shoshana Paget

 

 

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The cyber-panopticon? Regulating the circulation of biometric data in the information society

By Ryan Yevcak

 

Sensing Migrants: Surveillance and Self-Surveillance in the Immigration Panopticon

By Simcha Walfish

 

“Guilty of Having a Fantastic Time in Jail!”: On the Touristification of Prison Experiences

By Erin E. Lynch

 

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The Social Regulation of Sight in the Age of the Eyeball Economy

By Pauline Hoebanx

 

Masculinity Studies and the SensesPicture of an ocean wave cresting

By John Bryans

 

 

The Legal Paradox of Linguistic Profiling

By Lily Maya Wang

 

 

“Pain and Suffering of the Requisite Intensity”: The Legal Definition of Torture

By Simcha Walfish

 

A Sensory Exploration of the Tsuu T’ina Court

By Lily Maya Wang

 

 

Hearing Room

Credibility and Immediacy in Refugee Hearings

By Simcha Walfish

 

 

Hearing Voices: Malingering and the Criminal Law

By Simcha Walfish

 

 

Geographic Indications and Extra-territorial Regulation of Taste: The Case of Manchego Cheese and the Mexico-EU Free Trade Agreement

By Ryan Yevcak

 

Weight Discrimination at Work: Pondering the Obesity-as-Disability Paradigm

By Simcha Walfish

 

Growing out of Touch: The Social and Sensory Regulation of Childhood

By Sarah-Michelle Thomas

 

A Lawyer and a Lady?: The Visual Aesthetics of Femininity and Professionalism in Law

By Jessye Kilburn

 

Unlawful Gazes: Voyeurism and Criminal Law

By Simcha Walfish

 

 

Quiet Hands: Autism, Law and the Senses

By Sarah Michelle Thomas

 

 

Sound on Trial: Rap Music & the U.S. First Amendment

By Shoshana Paget

 

 

Contesting Allegations: The Islamic Veil and Gender In/Equality

By Sarah Michelle Thomas

 

Undersea Noise and the Senses of Cetaceans

By Simcha Walfish

 

 

‘Til the IRB Do Us Part: The Complex Dynamics of Gustatory Evidence in Spousal Sponsorship Appeals

By Jessye Kilburn

 

An Aura of Luxury

By Ryan Yevcak

 

 

Solitary Confinement and the Senses

By Simcha Walfish

 

 

Weighed Down by the Burden of Proof: Evidence, Interoception, and Invisible Illnesses

By Jessye Kilburn

 

https://media.wnyc.org/media/resources/2016/Jul/15/foster.jpgJury Selection: Peremptory Challenges and Sensory Judgments

By Simcha Walfish

 

A Courtroom with a View

By Alexander Sculthorpe

 

 

CourtRoomSketchThe Senses on Trial

By Olivia Khazam