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- Hacker News
- Is there an extra harsh punishment, if the insults aren't in French?by dlcarrier
- As western societies have become more authoritarian, governments are resorting to banning even the most minor types of resistance. For example, when going through airport security in the UK and US you will see signs warning that insulting security officers is a criminal offense. As laws become more senseless and needlessly punitive, this is a disappointing development.
Unfortunately, I suspect eventually this strategy of "containment" of dissent will eventually lead to outbursts of violence since less extreme forms of dissent are not tolerated anyway.
by bgorman - I predict this will go badly. I would not describe the good people of Montreal as a "compliant" lot. You can't legislate respect.by montroser
- I know that speech protections are not exactly maximalist in Canada, but surely this can't be compatible with the charter?by clarionbell
- I think these are the key sentences in that article (below). This bylaw is probably targeted toward citizens that come in and berate staff because they find out they have an unpaid parking ticket from 2 years ago that they have to pay before renewing their license (for example).
>The new Montreal bylaw would ban insults, harassment, threats, abuse and intimidation, as well as offensive and aggressive behaviour.
>It also includes provisions saying city employees could refuse to provide services to someone who misbehaves. However, the bylaw doesn't define what could be construed as an insult.
by giarc - For context, police gained support for this bylaw following this video. The guy posted the video of himself of calling an office a whore on socia media. The fact the officer was so polite and couldn't do anything about it made people furious. Of course, there is real risk of abuse of this law but that's the context.by heisgone
- Assault was already illegal. So, this is to also ban calling the police names?
Already illegal: "I'm going to kick your ass" Now illegal: "You're a poopy head"
by alistairSH - Something similar was attempted in Houston in the 1980s and the US Supreme Court struck it down as a clear 1st Amendment violation [1]
> The Constitution does not allow such speech to be made a crime. The freedom of individuals verbally to oppose or challenge police action without thereby risking arrest is one of the principal characteristics by which we distinguish a free nation from a police state.
by petcat