After graduating from Osgoode Hall, Young clerked for Chief Justice Bora Laskin of the Supreme Court of Canada and worked as a criminal lawyer in Toronto.
At Osgoode, he co-founded and directed the school's Innocence Project, which seeks to investigate and overturn cases of wrongful conviction and provides experiential education to law students.
Born on December 1, 1956 in Toronto,[1] Young grew up in a middle-class home in the Jewish neighbourhood of Bathurst and Wilson until the age of 10 and attended Associated Hebrew Day School.
[8] The launching of this constitutional challenge was the subject of a documentary film shown on CBC Newsworld in September 1998, Stoned: Hemp Nation on Trial.
In addition, due to the inadequacies of the medical program, Young was able to secure court rulings requiring the government to amend its regulatory provisions on two occasions.
[citation needed] Continuing on this path of stirring up debate, Young published a critique of the legal profession in 2003 in his book Justice Defiled: Perverts, Pot Heads, Serial Killers and Lawyers.
During his career, Young assisted dozens of individuals with mental disorders resolve emerging conflicts with family members and state officials.
Over the years, he conducted numerous parole hearings, two applications to transfer Canadians from prisons in Thailand and the securing of the right of a federal inmate to complete his university degree online.
[22] In 2019, he successfully established a right of post-conviction disclosure for wrongful conviction claimants who are seeking information and materials found in government files.
[23] In 2015, Young was appointed amicus curiae by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to assist incarcerated individual who wished to challenge the terms and conditions of their imprisonment through the writ of habeas corpus.
In an effort to increase the accountability of public officials, Young assisted numerous individuals who sought to launch complaints against police officers, prosecutors and their own lawyers.
[29] In 1995, Young worked as legal commentary for CTV Television Network news coverage of the three-month trial of the serial killer Paul Bernardo.
– a play on the rising incidence of mass murder – was staged by Hey Lady Productions on February 1, 2020, at the George Ignatieff Theatre in Toronto.
[36] In 2003 Young wrote an autobiography, Justice Defiled: Perverts, Potheads, Serial Killers & Lawyers, published by Key Porter Books.