Richard Moon is Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Law at the University of Windsor. His research focuses on freedom of expression and freedom of conscience and religion. He is the author of The Life and Death of Freedom of Expression (U of T Press, 2024), Putting Faith in Hate: When Religion is the Source or Target of Hate Speech (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2018), Freedom of Conscience and Religion (Irwin Law, 2014) (2nd edition, 2024), The Constitutional Protection of Freedom of Expression (U of T Press, 2000), and Report to the Canadian Human Rights Commission Concerning Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Regulation of Hate Speech on the Internet (CHRC, 2008), editor of Law and Religious Pluralism in Canada (UBC Press, 2008), co-editor of Religion and the Exercise of Public Authority (Hart/Bloomsbury, 2016), Indigenous Spirituality and Religious Freedom (U of T Press, in press), The Surprising Constitution (UBC Press, 2024), contributing editor to Canadian Constitutional Law (3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th editions) (Emond-Montgomery, 2006, 2010, 2016, 2022). He has been the recipient of both the law school and university-wide teaching awards, the Mary Lou Dietz Award for contributions to the advancement of equity in the university and community, and The Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan Distinguished Public Service Award (The Amadiyya Muslim Jama’at), Toronto, July 15, 2023. He has held a number of academic positions including President of the Canadian Law and Society Assn. He is currently editor-in-chief of the Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice.
Many of his publications can be found at his SSRN author's page: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=390771
Recent Publications
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Freedom of Conscience and Religion (2nd ed) (Irwin Law, 2024).
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The Surprising Constitution (UBC Press, 2024) (co-edited with Howard Kislowicz and Kerri Froc).
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"Limits on Rights: The Myth of Balancing" in Kislowicz et al eds, The Surprising Constitution (UBC Press, 2024).
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The Life and Death of Freedon Expression (UTP, 2024).
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“Freedom of Expression: Background Paper for the Public Order Emergency Commission”, September 2022.
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"R v Big M Drug Mart and the Importance of Religion" in R. Barker, P. Babie, and N, Foster (eds), Law and Religion Landmark Cases (Hart/Bloomsbury, 2022).
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"Comment on Fraser v. Canada (AG): The More Things Change", Constitutional Forum (March, 2021).
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"The Protocols of the Elder Trudeau: A Canadian Conspiracy Theory", Literary Review of Canada (Sept. 2020).
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Indigenous Spirituality and Religious Freedom (UTP, forthccoming 2024) (co-edited with Jeffery Hewitt)
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"Ktunaxa v. BC and the Shape of Religious Freedom" in J. Hewitt and R. Moon, eds., Indigenous Spirituality and Religious Freedom (UTP, forthcoming 2024)
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“The Conscientious Objection of Medical Practitioners to the CPSO’s Effective Referral Requirement”, 29(1) Constitutional Forum (May 2020). https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/constitutional_forum/index.php/constitutional_forum/article/view/29403
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“Conscientious Objection and the Politics of Cake-Baking”, 9 Oxford J. of Law and Religion (2020).
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"Pierre Trudeau and the Separation of Law and Religion" in N. Karazivan and J. Leclair, The Legacy of Pierre Trudeau (Lexis/Nexis, 2020)
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"Does Freedom of Expression have a Future?" in E. Macfarlane ed., Dilemmas of Free Expression (U of T Press, 2021).
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Oped in Policy Options, "Charter arguments will not help Vaccine Mandate Opponents" Sept 29, 2021, https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/septembe-2021/charter-arguments-will-not-likely-help-vaccine-mandate-opponents/
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Op-ed in Toronto Star, “Harper’s Magazine Letter Exposes the Crisis in Our Public Discourse”, Toronto Star, July 13, 2020, https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/07/13/harpers-magazine-letter-exposes-the-crisis-in-our-public-discourse.html
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"Trinity Western Univ. v. LSBC: Complicated Answers to a Simple Question" 94 Supreme Court Law Review 335 (2019).
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“Free Speech Controversies on Campus", Academic Matters (Fall, 2018) https://academicmatters.ca/understanding-the-right-to-freedom-of-expression-and-its-place-on-campus/?fbclid=IwAR2iXP6QS5cL0HtnBJGGsCzVvlQcK8lZJKA4_x2CSj8LOMDW3_aFozIPyG4
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“The Demise of Free Speech”, 28 Constitutional Forum 1 (2019) https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/constitutional_forum/index.php/constitutional_forum/article/view/29373/21372
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“Dolphin Delivery and the Court’s Loss of Confidence”, 39 National Journal of Constitutional Law 123 (2019).
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“Conscience in the Image of Religion” in John Adenitire (ed.), Religious Beliefs and Conscientious Exemptions in a Liberal State (Hart/Bloomsbury, 2019).
Recent Media Interviews
The Tyee, “For Campus Encampments Supporting Gaza, What’s Next?” June 6, 2024: https://thetyee.ca/News/2024/06/07/Campus-Encampments-Supporting-Gaza-What-Next/
CTV Toronto 6:00 pm News, “The U of T injunction application”, May 29, 2024.
AM 620 Toronto, “The U of T injunction application”, May 29, 2024.
The Tyee, “How the War in Gaza is Testing Canada’s Hate Speech Laws”, May 29, 2024: https://thetyee.ca/News/2024/05/29/War-Gaza-Testing-Canada-Hate-Speech-Laws/
Canadian Press, “U of T seeks court injunction to clear encampment as protesters stay put”, May 28, 2024: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/cda-campus-protests-1.7217397
Canadian Bar Assn., National Magazine, Doug Beazley, “The Law on Protests”, May 22, 2024: http://www.nationalmagazine.ca/en-ca/articles/law/hot-topics-in-law/2024/the-law-on-protests
CBC Radio, World Report News, May 20, 2024.
CBC News Digital, “Campus encampments: Freedom of expression or trespassing?” May 16, 2024: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iVIPx9Spuuc
CBC Radio Noon Alberta, May 14, 2024.
CBC Radio, Calgary, The Eye-Opener, May 13, 2024.
CBC Radio, Edmonton AM, May 13, 2024: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-17-edmonton-am/clip/16067024-a-closer-look-freedom-expression-campus
Calgary Herald, “Alberta university encampment removals likely violated protesters' constitutional rights, legal experts say”, May 11, 2024: https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/alberta-university-encampment-removals-likely-violated-protesters-constitutional-rights-legal-experts-say
CBC Radio, World Report News, April 23, 2024.
CBC TV, The National, April 22, 2024.
Toronto Star, It’s Political Podcast, “Does the Online Harms Bill Go Too Far”, April 5, 2024: https://www.thestar.com/podcasts/its-political/does-the-online-harms-act-go-too-far/article_c469079e-f2d0-11ee-8ac9-ff58331f333e.html
Agence France Presse, “Canadian Bill would not criminalize all religious expression”, March 13, 2024. https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.34L73ZU
Canadaland podcast, “The Hate UPost”, March 12, 2024. https://www.canadaland.com/shows/backbench/
National Post, Chris Selley “How to make the notwithstanding clause work better — without weakening it”, March 10, 2024.
The National Post, Joseph Brean, “The history of Section 13, the controversial hate speech law the Liberals just revived”, Feb 29, 2024. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/section-13-history-explained
Canadian Press, “Civil liberty, law critics say stiffer hate crime sentences in online harms bill 'troubling'”, Feb. 28, 2024.
CBC Radio, The Sunday Magazine, CBC Radio, Jan 28, 2024. https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/1.7097468
CBC Radio Toronto, Metro-morning, Jan 15, 2024.
Canadian Press, “Group alleges ban on protests at Toronto highway overpass enforced ‘selectively’” Jan 15, 2024: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-group-alleges-ban-on-protests-at-toronto-highway-overpass-enforced/
CBC Online, “Police say a man waved a terror group's flag. Here's why it may be difficult to prosecute as a hate crime”, Jan 13, 2024: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hate-speech-flag-charges-toronto-1.7082212
Other Recent Podcasts and Posts
Centre for Free Expression Blog, “Ontario Government Extends Constitutional Protection to University Encampments”, Ma 21, 2024. https://cfe.torontomu.ca/blog/2024/05/ontario-government-extends-constitutional-protection-university-encampments
Centre for Free Expression Blog, “Is an Encampment Protected Expression”, May 11, 2024. https://cfe.torontomu.ca/blog/2024/05/encampment-protected-expression
Runnymede Radio, “When Is Assembly No Longer Peaceful?” May 6, 2024. https://runnymedesociety.ca/en/jamie-cameron-and-richard-moon-when-is-assembly-no-longer-peaceful/
Law Bytes Podcast, “The Return of s. 13 of the CHRA”, April 8, 2024. https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2024/04/law-bytes-podcast-episode-198/
Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy, “Bill C-63 Unpacked: Criminal Code and Human Rights Act Amendments”, March 27, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3feD28tfJTQ
Centre for Constitutional Studies, “Is There a Future for Free Expression?” https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/podcasts/free-expression/