Abstract:
In this article the authors look at their experiences
teaching the trespass torts to law students using a
documentary film about Muir v. Alberta. The case was
brought by Leilani Muir against the government of
Alberta for battery and false imprisonment and for
sterilizing her without her knowledge or consent. The
documentary follows Muir’s court case, and
interweaves her personal story with the larger social
history of the eugenics movement and the development
of The Sexual Sterilization Act. The authors begin
with a description of the Muir documentary and a
discussion of the ways in which the texts, written and
filmic, work together in the context of telling Muir’s
story. The authors then discuss film as a medium for
telling legal stories. Finally, the authors reflect on
their classroom experiences with the various Muir
texts, and the ways in which the film assists them in
teaching both the particular case and torts more
generally. The authors suggest that complementing
case reports with documentaries about them, or events
related to the case, helps to provide alternative and
sometimes counter stories to the official account.
Description:
This is a post-print version of this paper, published in the Alberta Law Review, (2011) 48(3) pp. 615-629.
This article has its origins in a short piece that was part of a collection of stories about using film in the law school classroom: “Using Film in the Classroom: The Call and the Responses” (2009) 21 C.J.W.L. 197 (Special Issue: Law, Film and Feminism, Gillian Calder & Rebecca Johnson, eds.).