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Soldier, university professor, lawyer, political candidate, and judge; David Vanek's compelling life story has seen him in many roles, all of which are played out in these memoirs. The child of Jewish-Russian immigrants, Vanek encountered anti-semitism while growing up, but was able to overcome prejudice and rise to prominence. He was educated at the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School (where he was in a Jewish fraternity with Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster) before serving in the Second World War. When the war was over, he returned to the University of Toronto to teach law, and opened his own practice. In 1963 he ran for Parliament as a member of the Progressive Conservative party. In 1968 Vanek became a provincial court judge, and would preside over cases dealing with robbery, drugs, assault, gambling, pollution, and embezzlement, as well as the rights of citizens vs. the rights of police. His most high-profile case was that of Susan Nelles, a nurse at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children who was charged with the murders of four babies at the hospital. Vanek went on to become the president of the Provincial Court Judges Association, and was active in campaigning for changes in how the courts treat young offenders.
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To our beloved daughter, Nancy, whose untimely death is the great tragedy of our lives.
FULFILMENT MEMOIRS OF A CRIMINAL COURT JUDGE
DAVID VANEK
D U N D U R N PRESS TORONTO • OXFORD
Copyright © The Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History, 1999 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency. All photographs reproduced in this book are from the author's collection, except where noted. Editor: Carrie Whithers Design: Scott Reid Printer: Transcontinental Printing Inc. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Vanek, David Fulfilment: memoirs of a criminal court judge Copublished by the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History. ISBN 1-55002-325-X 1. Vanek, David. 2. Ontario. Provincial Court, Criminal Division — Biography. 3. Judges — Ontario — Biography. 4. Criminal justice, Administration of — Ontario. I. Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History. II. Title. KE416.V36A3 1999 1
THE CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS SINCE 1957
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments Foreword Preface Chapter 1 — Just a Farm Boy Chapter 2 — Childhood Memories Chapter 3 — Growing Up at Oak Ridges and Lake Wilcox Chapter 4 — Toronto "The Good" Chapter 5 — College Days Chapter 6 — Qualifying for the Bar. Then What? Chapter 7 — You're i