Criminal Law and a Bass Guitar - A Profile of Steven Penney

Professor Steven Penney has always felt very comfortable in the school environment. “Half way through law school I started getting the sense that teaching was what I wanted to do,” says the Faculty of Law alumnus. “The intellectual challenges of academia were very interesting to me and the independence, flexibility and the mix of research and teaching were also very appealing.”

One of the most enjoyable things about teaching for Steven is the interaction that he has with the students. “It’s amazing to watch their analytical and persuasive skills get progressively better, and to see them begin to think like a lawyer,” he says. Steven is also very impressed by the number of law students that are actively involved in student associations, like Student Legal Services, and with other extracurricular experiences.  

Steven currently teaches three very popular courses, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, and Evidence. He has also conducted a seminar in Privacy and Technology, which may be offered again in future years. Steven has learned that there isn’t one single teaching methodology that works for all students. He uses techniques which cater to multiple learning styles to help students retain information and strengthen understanding. Steven also uses a variety of strategies and methods, such as lecture, problem solving and discussion, to ensure that all students have equal opportunities to learn.

Steven’s main research interests are criminal law, criminal procedure, evidence, and issues of privacy and technology. In fact, the Government of Canada recently introduced a bill that includes versions of many of the legislative reforms that Steven proposed in his 2008 article, “Communications Surveillance in the Digital Age,” which was published in Canadian Criminal Law Review. For example, the police will now have the power to obtain warrants to use GPS and other location tracking technologies to monitor the movements of criminal suspects through their cell phones, iPhones, Blackberries, and other such devices. When thinking about the relationship that exists between his research and teaching Steven notes, “I’m lucky that I get to teach in the fields that I research, and everything that I teach is informed by research.”

“One of the major strengths of our school,” says Steven, “Is that students receive an excellent traditional legal education, and at the same time, they also have the opportunity to explore a lot of specialized fields. There is such a diverse group of professors and instructors at the Faculty that students get a great professional foundation, as well as an excellent introduction to law from an academic perspective.”

When pondering if and how the Faculty of Law has changed since Steven received his legal education he says, “It has and it hasn’t. The school has retained the core of what it does well, focusing on professional development and an increasingly national student body. However, we are now a bit more outward looking with an emphasis on recruiting exciting young dynamic scholars and bringing them here.”

Steven played the bass guitar in several alternative rock bands while completing his undergraduate education and law school. He researches and teaches in the areas of criminal procedure, evidence, substantive criminal law, and privacy and technology.