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There have been numerous ludicrous prosecutions and lawsuits of people in your country for violating these laws. Mike Ward, for one. A few other comedians as
by rjbwork 4y ago
There have been numerous ludicrous prosecutions and lawsuits of people in your country for violating these laws. Mike Ward, for one. A few other comedians as well. Bill Whatcott. Gregory Elliott.
Some of these people were found guilty, some acquitted. All were prosecuted under these laws.
To be clear I don't agree with any of these people. I don't even find the Mike Ward joke particularly funny. It's a throwaway bit meant to be offensive from my point of view. But I don't think they should be able to be thrown in prison, fined, or sued, because someone's feelings got hurt over some words.
- chrisfosterelli 4y agoThanks for engaging with specific examples, I do appreciate it. I wasn't familiar with most of these except for Mike Ward and I gave them a read. It seems that Mike Ward and Gregory Elliott were acquitted while Bill Whatcott was fined $17,500 for distributing anti-homosexuality flyers, containing images of dismembered fetuses and beheaded children, at schools. Perhaps this is just a difference of opinion, but I don't feel this outcome is unreasonable and I don't see the "slippery slope" aspect of it. It's unfortunate that the stress and cost of court were caused on people who were acquitted but that strikes me as a general problem of our legal system rather than one specific to free speech laws.