{"product_id":"justice-for-sale-laing-z-matthews-9781997624684","title":"Justice for Sale: How Canada's Courts Punish the Poor and Betray the Charter","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJustice for Sale: How Canada's Courts Punish the Poor and Betray the Charter\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eby Laing Z. Matthews\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor thirty-five years, Laing Z. Matthews sat inside Canada's courtrooms - not as a lawyer or judge, but as an interpreter, a witness, and eventually, a litigant. He translated for the voiceless, observed the rituals of justice, and learned the hard truth behind the robes: \u003cb\u003ein Canada, the poor do not receive justice - they are processed by it.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eJustice for Sale\u003c\/i\u003e is the definitive exposé of class-based discrimination in the Canadian legal system - a work of lived authority, constitutional analysis, and moral clarity. Through first-hand accounts, legal history, and careful reasoning, Matthews reveals how Canada's courts routinely violate the Charter's promise of equality before and under the law.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom unaffordable counsel and gutted legal-aid programs to punitive cost orders and procedural traps, the system ensures that \u003cb\u003ethe poor lose long before judgment day.\u003c\/b\u003e A single mother in family court, a worker dismissed without cause, a refugee facing deportation - all navigate a structure built not for truth, but for those who can pay to reach it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe book unfolds in four sweeping parts: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart I\u003c\/b\u003e dismantles the myth that justice is blind, tracing how colonial law and professional elitism entrenched a class bias that persists to this day.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart II\u003c\/b\u003e exposes how the system actively crushes the poor through legal-aid failures, self-representation stigma, and economic punishment masquerading as procedure.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart III\u003c\/b\u003e reframes these injustices as constitutional betrayals, arguing that poverty itself must be recognized as a protected ground under Section 15 of the Charter.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart IV\u003c\/b\u003e offers a vision for reform - a blueprint for justice without wealth, drawn from comparative models in Europe and rooted in a single radical idea: that access to justice is not charity, but citizenship.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcross every page, Matthews writes with the precision of an insider and the fire of a reformer. His courtroom scenes - urgent, human, unforgettable - expose the quiet violence of form over fairness, of polish over truth. His legal reasoning is as rigorous as it is readable, bridging the worlds of law, politics, and public conscience.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book does not beg for sympathy. It \u003cb\u003edemands accountability\u003c\/b\u003e - from the judiciary, the legislature, and the nation itself. It argues that democracy dies not when the powerful break the law, but when the poor cannot use it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eJustice for Sale\u003c\/i\u003e is both an indictment and a roadmap: a call for constitutional renewal, professional humility, and moral courage. It speaks to every Canadian who has ever stood alone before the bench - and to those who still believe that law should protect the powerless, not serve the powerful.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Laing Z. Matthews\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1997624680\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781997624684\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Esther's Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/16\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 342\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.01lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.71d","brand":"Laing Z. Matthews","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48440602034431,"sku":"9781997624684","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_2efe9d47-3035-4e07-a34c-0803a5b8d22e.jpg?v=1777183543","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/justice-for-sale-laing-z-matthews-9781997624684","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}