Episode 155: Supreme Court upholds lighter sentence for Aboriginal man who beat up Aboriginal girlfriend

In Episode 155, we explain why the federal "no more pipelines" law was struck down by an Alberta court for the second time. Plus, we walk through a Supreme Court of Canada decision that upheld a light sentence given to an Aboriginal man who beat up his Aboriginal girlfriend.

Stories and cases discussed in this week's episode:

R. v. Cope, 2026 SCC 32 Alberta Court of Appeal says Ottawa's Impact Assessment Act is still unconstitutional (Global News)Reference re Impact Assessment Act, 2026 ABCA 320Sentence tossed after man killed in 2021 "speaks" in AI video shown in Arizona court (CBS News)Court Again Finds Federal “No More Pipelines” Law Unconstitutional (TheCCF.ca)

Not Reserving Judgment is a podcast about Canadian constitutional law hosted by Josh Dehaas, Joanna Baron, and Christine Van Geyn, with help from Alexander Surgenor.

The show is brought to you by the Canadian Constitution Foundation, a non-partisan legal charity dedicated to defending rights and freedoms. To support our work, visit theccf.ca/donate.