Reakash Walters

Reakash Walters is a Canadian lawyer and doctoral student at Berkeley School of Law. Reakash graduated cum laude from the University of Ottawa’s Common Law program and is called to the bar of Ontario. She practiced as a criminal defense lawyer and appeared at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Reakash went on to serve as law clerk to Justice Sheilah Martin of the Supreme Court of Canada. Following her clerkship, Reakash completed her Master of Laws with High Honors at Columbia Law School as a Fulbright Scholar and Davis Polk Leadership Fellow. During her fellowship, Reakash co-founded Manhattan Courtwatch: a court watching project that allows community members to draw attention to systemic harms caused by the criminal legal system. Her scholarly expertise centers institutional design, alternative legal frameworks, and the criminalization of Black friendship and kinship. Reakash brings over a decade of community organizing experience on issues of racial justice, housing justice, and human rights to her scholarship and advocacy. Her doctoral research is supported by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and a full Robbins JSD Fellowship.

In 2018, Reakash co-founded an award-winning podcast with Canadian Senator Kim Pate entitled Appointed: A Canadian Senator bringing Margins to Centre which examined the social and legal obstacles facing criminalized and marginalized people. In 2020, Reakash was recognized as a “Trailblazer” by Chatelaine Magazine for her advocacy. Reakash’s research and writing has been published in the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law and the Globe and Mail; she has forthcoming publications in the University of Ottawa Press and the International Encyclopaedia of Restorative Justice. Reakash serves as a board member on the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), Canada’s largest feminist legal organization. She also serves as a board member on the Canadian Law and Society Association, Canada’s preeminent venue for the exchange of interdisciplinary critical legal scholarship.

Currently, Reakash is assisting a Black-led research institute in piloting Nova Scotia’s first Africentric Justice Strategy; the project focuses on the use of restorative and transformative justice mechanisms to enhance safety in Black communities.