MCW Law

05/05/2024

BLM Tent City was the first action of civil disobedience I can remember taking part in. I was 19 years old, inspired by my peers at UofT and the Black community in Toronto to stand up to TPS for its decades of evil. Fast forward to last week to see pro-Palestine encampments at UofT. Being there and remembering all the actions we took on that campus for years was a blessing. I feel inspired by the younger people of today to always keep the pressure on the system’s neck.

Running a busy practice and being the father of a young child doesn’t give me the time I used to have to be able to mobilize in the streets and that’s something that’s hard to grapple with. I never want to lose touch with what’s happening on the ground because I truly believe that’s where change is made. I’ve had to be creative and think of other ways I show support to movements even if I can’t be in the streets as much as I want to be. Here’s what I came up with:

Anyone charged for actions done at a protest or mobilization, I am a call away. Any organizers who need legal advice, I am a call away. Free of charge.

Liberation to all the oppressed people everywhere✊🏿

01/20/2024

Toronto South (like ALL jails and prisons in this Babylon sentence) has long been the site of human rights violations. Articles like this have been being written for years and years with little to no change. I speak to my incarcerated clients on an almost daily basis and there’s rarely, save for a special holiday meal or extra time out of their cell, anything good to say about jail.

Why does our society treat people this way and expect them to get better? The answer to this is simple in my opinion. We don’t want people to get better. Jail and prison is an intentionally torturous process where the point is to have people return over and over again. Between exorbitant costs for phone calls, cheap or free labour from incarcerated people, etc., “Corrections” is a big business.

Even a defence lawyer, I feel helpless sometimes to affect this system in any meaningful way, but the least I can do is speak up about it. I implore any other lawyer who follows me to do the same.

01/12/2024

In today’s Day in the Life of a Criminal Defence Lawyer…..

I woke up at 4(!!) am to get ready to go to my second home Hamilton Wentworth Detention Centre to meet my client to prepare for his fentanyl trafficking trial. Upon arriving at the jail, doing the required checkins, and waiting in the visiting room, the CO comes to me to tell me my client no longer lives at this jail. Imagine my confusion when I spoke to him at said jail less than 48 hours ago. The CO doesn’t know when he got moved, where he got moved to, or why. A bit of run around ensued and I was able to find out that he got moved over an hour away. Reason TBA! What also is TBA why they wouldn’t check to see who had planned to visit him and cancel. Or why he could just be moved an hour away at a moment’s notice and be allowed to tell NO ONE. None of his family or friends knew anything about it. While I’m annoyed my time was wasted, I’m saddened by how callous the “correctional” system treats incarcerated people. But alas.

Thanks for reading this far and more content on the way!

01/05/2024

Rashed is one of the most principled, hardworking lawyers I’ve had the pleasure to meet. His track record speaks for itself and you are in good hands with him

Year end update: In 2023, Rashed Amin Law saw incredible growth while practicing exclusively in the area of Criminal Defence and expanding coverage area to include Hamilton. A large number of our clients in the Hamilton area came from organic word of mouth advertising from satisfied client recommendations. We had several big trial wins on asssault and weapons related charges including a serious youth charge. The joy of seeing families reunited, smiling and hugging after a trial win will always be a memorable highlight. As prison abolitionists, we are especially proud of the work we did on obtaining bail releases. Thank you to all our friends and family for your support. Wishing you a happy, successful and joyous 2024.