Prairie Justice: The Hanging of Mike Hack (Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History)

In May 1928, the body of George Edey was discovered on his Saskatchewan farm, leading to the swift arrest of a deaf and mentally disabled farmhand named Mike Hack. Following a three-day murder trial, Hack was quickly convicted and sentenced to death. Denied clemency, in January 1929 he was hanged in the courtyard of the Regina Jail at twenty-seven years of age and buried in an unmarked grave. Prairie Justice dissects this case, revealing its implications for important themes in the history of the Canadian criminal justice system.

Wayne Sumner meticulously traces the narrative of the case, analysing each step from the initial murder investigation to the subsequent arrest, trial, conviction, denial of clemency, and execution of the man accused. Drawing on a personal connection to the case rooted in his family history – his father’s hometown was the village where the crime occurred, and both his grandfather and great-grandfather were involved in the investigation – Sumner uncovers deeper and more universal reasons to share the story. The book punctuates the narrative with insightful analysis on key criminal justice themes illustrated by the case: unfitness to stand trial, the defence of insanity, ineffective assistance of counsel, wrongful conviction, and miscarriage of justice. Ultimately, Prairie Justice exposes how access to justice can be merely illusory for the poor and marginalized.

Wayne Sumner is a university professor emeritus in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto.