Cases of the Court: Rodney Small

Live the law.

At this point in the course, take a moment to pause—and step into the lived experience of a Canadian who brought his case to the Supreme Court.

On an October night in 1993, teenager Rodney Small was arrested by a police officer who claimed the then 15-year-old boy had run into him with his bike and hit him. Rodney’s story would become a legal battleground for larger questions about race, policing practices in Halifax, and the impartiality of Corinne Sparks, the country’s first Black woman judge.

Rodney takes us from his early days in Halifax’s Uniacke Square to his central role in the landmark R. v. R.D.S. case and its aftermath. Watch as Rodney revisits a story that reshaped his life—and challenged the judicial system to confront hard truths about race and justice.

This documentary vignette is part of a series of short films featured throughout the course, each offering a human perspective on the Canadian justice system and the Supreme Court experience.