Alan Young

Professor Young is currently an Associate Professor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Ontario; he also maintains a small practice specializing in criminal law and procedure.

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.

In 1995, he 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 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.