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From: brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.legal
Subject: Who was damaged by the hate literature
Message-ID: <449@looking.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 25-Oct-85 15:08:37 EDT
Article-I.D.: looking.449
Posted: Fri Oct 25 15:08:37 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 26-Oct-85 04:16:52 EDT
References: <913@decwrl.UUCP> <863@lsuc.UUCP> <73@ubc-cs.UUCP>
Reply-To: brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton)
Organization: Looking Glass Software Ltd. Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 25
Xref: watmath net.politics:11680 net.legal:2499
Summary: Don't put people in jail for a tort that isn't there

While Sherman's defence of the conviction of Zundel under the criminal
code is probably correct, I think it's important to question if showing
that the defendant knowingly said nasty lies about a group is enough.

Shouldn't the jury also be shown solid evidence that somebody, somewhere
suffered a loss, and shouldn't this be proven beyond a reasonable doubt?

If I say, perhaps as a joke, that some public figure has no brain cells,
or make a generalization like "All Judges are corrupt" or "members of
the Nazi party are all sodomites", I might be guilty under this act.

I think in Zundel's case the crown should have been required to produce
people who had read Zundel's writings and had their opinions changed to
falsehoods by them.

-------

When passing laws that restrict fundamental rights, we must always consider
how they might be used by an evil government.  We must ask questions like,
"how could the government stretch this law to get somebody they wanted
to get?"

I don't think this law lives up to that test.
-- 
Brad Templeton, Looking Glass Software Ltd. - Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473