Wednesday, December 14, 2011

No Ruling Yet on Section 13--But It's Hard to Get a Fix on Judge's Thinking

NatPo reporter Joseph Bream says the judge hearing the Section 13 case--which wrapped up yesterday--hasn't made a ruling but was "hinting he might have been persuaded to consider overturning the law."

I'll take Bream's word for it, since he was there and I wasn't. But that's not the sense one gets from this:
Section 13 is a "truly despicable law, enforced in a despicable way," with federal bureaucrats acting in the manner of Crown prosecutors, she [Barbara Kulaszka, Mark Lemire's lawyer] added.

"If it wasn't for Richard Warman, Section 13 would basically be dead, because Canadians love the Internet, the back and forth ... the free-dom of speech it represents."

Ms. Kulaszka compared Section 13, and its supposed 100% conviction rate, to Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, which did not sit well with Judge Mosley.

"Let's not get carried away with hyperbole. Some comparisons are offensive," he said. "Counsel should know this and restrain yourself."
Hmm. It kinda sounds like Judge Mosley (he does know that Maclean's and Mark Steyn were forced to endure--no hyperbole--a Soviet-style kangaroo court hearing, doesn't he?) may be the sort who's in favour of  the "restraint" afforded by Section 13.

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