Alan Young

The Innocence Project



Alan Young
THE INNOCENCE PROJECT

Alan Young is Co-Founder and Director of Osgoode’s Innocence Project, a clinical program that guides JD students through the process of investigating suspected cases of wrongful conviction and imprisonment. He also maintains a small practice specializing in criminal law and procedure that is primarily devoted to challenging state authority to criminalize consensual activity.

His practice has been primarily devoted to challenging the criminalization of consensual activity by state authorities. He has brought constitutional challenges to our gambling, obscenity, bawdy-house, and drug laws and for 10 years has provided free legal services for people whose alternative lifestyles have brought them into conflict with the law.

BIOGRAPHY

In 1995, Alan Young successfully challenged the “drug literature prohibition” in our Criminal Code on the basis that it was violative of freedom of expression. In 1998, he acted as counsel for the infamous “bondage bungalow” dominatrix. Between 1998-2000, he played an integral part in compelling the federal government to take action to recognize the medicinal value of marijuana. He has represented countless numbers of people suffering from AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis who had been charged as a result of using marijuana for medicinal purposes.

In addition to his work in the area of consensual crime, Professor Young has provided free legal services to victims of violent crime and to individuals attempting to sue the government for malicious prosecution. In 1997, he co-founded the Innocence Project at Osgoode Hall Law School which provides legal assistance for individuals who claim they have been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. He is the author of Justice Defiled: Perverts, Potheads, Serial Killers and Lawyers.

Talks

Alan Young - The Innocence Project

Lawyer Alan Young shares his work on the Innocence Project and why we have a dysfunctional criminal...

Alan Young - Defending Pot

The Canadian criminal justice system spends billions of dollars each year trying to control elements...