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Podcast: North Star with Ellin Bessner
Episode: After Synagogue Shootings, Legal Experts Warn Dropped Charges Fuel ‘Impunity’
Description: After three Toronto-area synagogues were shot at within the same week earlier this month, new questions are emerging about how the justice system handles antisemitic incidents.
In this episode of The CJN’s "North Star" podcast, Toronto lawyer Michael Teper and former Crown prosecutor Rochelle Direnfeld discuss why many protest-related charges tied to antisemitism in Toronto are later withdrawn, or diverted before reaching trial.
Teper, who tracks police-reported hate crimes against the Jewish community, says nearly half of roughly 100 recent cases have been handled that way. He and Direnfeld explain how Crown prosecutors make those de...