Kenneth Grad

Kenneth Grad photo
Personal Website
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=4357742
Supervisor

Dissertation Title

Prosecuting hateful speech: An historical analysis of Zundel, Keegstra, and the criminal law's ability to protect vulnerable communities

Dissertation Topic

My dissertation is a legal-historical study of the prosecutions of Holocaust deniers Ernst Zündel and James Keegstra in the 1980’s and their appeals to the Supreme Court of Canada in the early 1990’s. I also explore human rights proceedings and related civil actions initiated against Zündel after his conviction was overturned by the SCC in 1992 until his deportation to Germany in 2005. The primary objective of my research is to assess what these legal proceedings and their impact on the Jewish community tell us about the limits of the criminal sanction and other regulatory measures as a means for protecting vulnerable communities from harmful speech. My dissertation examines the Keegstra and Zundel cases from the perspective of Canadian Jews. Rather than revisiting the question of whether philosophy or constitutional rights suggest that criminal law should or should not forbid hate speech and under what conditions, I ask: assuming that hate speech harms vulnerable groups and pollutes our discourse, what can history tell us about the law’s ability to combat it?

Education

2011: Master of Laws (LLM) - Harvard Law School

2010: Juris Doctor (JD) - Osgoode Hall Law School, York University

2007: Master of Arts in History (MA) - Queen's University

2006: Bachelor of Arts (BA) - University of Toronto

Teaching Experience

Course Instructor, Ethical Lawyering in a Global Community - Osgoode Hall Law School, York University (2019-2020)

Faculty Instructor, 10th and 11th Annual Course on Reviewing and Drafting Search Warrants - Osgoode Professional Development (2017 and 2018)

Graduate Teaching Assistant - Queen's University, Faculty of History (2006-2007)

Professional Experience

Graduate Assistant - Osgoode Hall Law School, York University (2020-2021)

Research Assistant - Osgoode Hall Law School, York University (2019-2020)

Associate - Henein Hutchison LLP (2016-2019)

Associate - Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, and Garrison LLP (2013-2016)

Judicial Law Clerk to Morris J. Fish - Supreme Court of Canada (2012-2013)

Associate - Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (2010-2011)

Awards
  • SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Scholarship (2020-2023)
  • R. Roy McMurtry Fellowship, Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History (2021-22)
  • J.S.D. Tory Research and Writing Award, Osgoode Hall Law School (2011 and 2021)
  • Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2019-2020)
  • Honourable Willard Z. Estey Teaching Fellowship in Law, Osgoode Hall Law School (2019)
  • York University Graduate Scholarship (2019)
  • The Gold Medal, Osgoode Hall Law School (2010)
  • George Graham Sinclair Memorial Prize, Osgoode Hall Law School (2010)
  • Chancellor Van Koughnet Prize, Osgoode Hall Law School (2010)
  • McCarthy Tétrault LLP Prize, Osgoode Hall Law School (2008)
  • Harry R. Rose Criminal Law Prize, Osgoode Hall Law School (2008)
  • Clifton H. Lane Memorial Prize, Osgoode Hall Law School (2008)
  • Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP Prize, Osgoode Hall Law School (2008)
  • Fogler, Rubinoff LLP Prize, Osgoode Hall Law School (2008)
  • Queen's University Graduate Award (2006-2007)
Publications
Journal Article
  • “A Gesture of Criminal Law: Jews and the Criminalization of Hate Speech in Canada” (2022) 59:2 Osgoode Hall Law Journal (forthcoming). (peer-reviewed)
  • “Civil Law Alternatives in the Fight Against Hate Speech: The Case Study of the Marcus Hyman Act” (2022) 33 Canadian Jewish Studies/Études juives canadiennes (forthcoming). (peer-reviewed)
  • “Harmful Speech and the COVID-19 Penumbra” (2021) 19:1 Canadian Journal of Law and Technology 1-34 (with Amanda Turnbull). (peer-reviewed)
  • “Picked the Wrong Cars: A Comment on R. v. Theriault, R. v. Khill, and the Initial Aggressor” (2020) 68:4 Criminal Law Quarterly 386-409.
  • “Effective Leadership in Counter-Insurgency: The North-West Mounted Police in South Africa, 1899-1902” (2008) 9 Canadian Military Journal 61-72. (peer-reviewed)
Other Publications
  • “Mind the Age-Gap: Closing the Digital Divide in a Post-Pandemic World”, Ottawa Citizen (13 January 2021), online: perma.cc/H6ZY-YFBZ (with Amanda Turnbull).
  • “The Marcus Hyman Act: A Link to Our Past – And Our Future?” The Jewish Heritage Centre Connects, Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada (24 June 2021).
  • “Supreme Court Rejects Whittaker Rule for Tolling Section 16(b) Claims”, Securities Litigation News and Developments, American Bar Association (4 April 2012) (with Patrick Rideout).
  • “Second Circuit Clarifies Extraterritorial Reach of U.S. Securities Laws”, Securities Litigation News and Developments, American Bar Association (8 March 2012) (with Patrick Rideout).
Presentation
  • “Legal Remedies for Hate Speech: The Historical and Contemporary Significance of the Marcus Hyman Act” ("Torah Tea" Presentation at the York University Centre for Jewish Studies, January 2022)
  • “A Gesture of Criminal Law: Jews and the Criminalization of Hate Speech in Canada” (Paper Presentation at the Annual Conference of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies, June 2021) (Honourable Mention for Marcia Koven Award for Best Student Paper Presented)