8 ms·
The same courts that put a man in prison for teaching a dog to do a Hitler salute?
by travisoneill1 8y ago
The same courts that put a man in prison for teaching a dog to do a Hitler salute?
- pjc50 8y agoSpecifically, a video of him saying "gas the jews" repeatedly. The dog is a distraction.
- travisoneill1 8y agoIt's all a distraction because nobody was harmed.
- DanBC 8y agoJewish people were harmed.
- NeedMoreTea 8y agoYou mean fined, not imprisoned, for breaking well established limits on freedom of speech for racial hate speech? He crowd funded a fortune yet barely offered any defence, beyond "it was a joke meant to annoy his girlfriend", even after the judge explicitly encouraged him to during the trial. EDIT: The actual ruling appears to be far more reasonable and straightforward than I thought from the reporting at the time: http://www.scotland-judiciary.org.uk/8/1962/PF-v-Mark-Meechan http://www.scotland-judiciary.org.uk/8/1962/PF-v-Mark-Meecha... You had no need to make a video if all you wanted to do was to train the dog to react to offensive commands. You had no need to post the video on your unrestricted, publicly accessible, video channel if all you wanted to do was annoy your girlfriend. Your girlfriend was not even a subscriber to your channel. Finally, before turning to sentence, I should note that although I invited both legal representatives to make legal submissions during the trial about the law on freedom of expression, that was done only to a very limited extent. In the absence of focused submissions on that topic by either the Crown or the defence, all I can say is that, while that right is very important, in all modern democratic countries the law necessarily places some limits on that right.
- travisoneill1 8y agoWho was harmed by this video?
- DanBC 8y agoJewish people.
- travisoneill1 8y agoBy hearing words they don't like?
- justtopost 8y agoSo jokes aren't protected speech because he marketed it wrong? Sorry, that sounds crazy and draconian frankly.
- NeedMoreTea 8y agoIntended as a joke or not is irrelevant. Making an exception for anti-Semitic and racist material is crazy and draconian? I don't see how. Seems like a perfectly reasonable and common restriction of free expression.
- Torgo 8y agoteaching a dog to raise its paw on command isn't really racist nor anti-Semitic, even in context. People heiled on the comedy Hogan's Heroes.
- NeedMoreTea 8y agoNor is that why he was found guilty. Read the judgement if you are interested, it's fully and reasonably addressed.
- DanBC 8y agoIf he wanted to use a free speech defence he could have done so at his trial, and he was specifically invited to do so by the judge. He chose not to.