Constitutional law
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The Rewards of Punishment
I wondered aloud, yesterday, about the difference between falsely shouting “fire” in a theatre and causing a panic, and producing an incendiary video likely to cause murderous violence half a world away. Actually, I wondered whether there was any difference; I wasn’t able to come up with a convincing distinction. Eugene Volokh, over at the… Continue reading
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Shouting Fire
A hateful idiot makes a nasty video about Islam and posts it on Youtube. Predictably enough, similar things having happened a number of times over the last few years, murderous violence breaks out in some Muslim countries as a consequence. (Unusually, there have been Western victims this time.) Predictably too, some people have been calling… Continue reading
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Property and Propriety
I wrote yesterday about the judgment of the Québec Superior Court holding that the destruction of the gun-registry data concerning Québec is unconstitutional. As promised, I would like to volunteer some thoughts on the decision. In a nutshell, I think the outcome is sound, but the reasoning not the best that could have been offered.… Continue reading
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Québec Wins Gun-Registry Battle
Justice Marc-André Blanchard, of Québec’s Superior Court has ruled that the federal government’s attempt to destroy the data from the now-defunct long-gun registry is unconstitutional. (I have written extensively about this case; all of my posts about it are collected here.) The CBC’ has the story, and has helpfully posted a copy of the judgment online.… Continue reading
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Pas de droit de réplique
J’ai déjà écrit quelques billets sur l’effet réel des restrictions sur le droit des citoyens, d’organisations ou des groupes, autres que les candidats et les partis politiques, de dépenser de l’argent pour prendre part au débat public pré-électoral. Comme j’ai souligné ici et ici, au Canada, ce sont surtout des syndicats qui se sont heurté… Continue reading
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Bad Timing
In an interesting story yesterday, the Globe and Mail reported that “British Columbia’s largest public-sector union is appealing a fine of more than $3-million levied by Elections BC over a television advertisement that aired during the spring by-elections.” The union started an ad campaign three days before the by-elections were called. As the article tells the story… Continue reading
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Le mépris de Pauline Marois
J’ai essayé, depuis le début de ce blogue, de le garder non-partisan. Cependant, lorsqu’un parti politique propose des mesures non seulement à l’encontre, mais au mépris des droits fondamentaux et de la constitution et de la loi qui les protègent, je dois le dénoncer. C’est ce que fait aujourd’hui le Parti québécois. Comme le rapporte… Continue reading
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Non, c’est non!
Mardi, j’écrivais au sujet de la demande d’injonction présentée par le chef d’Option Nationale, Jean-Martin Aussant, pour contraindre les télédiffuseurs qui organisent les débats des chefs en vue des élections du 4 septembre prochain à l’inviter à faire partie de ses débats. Le juge Jean-François Émond de la Cour supérieure du Québec a rendu sa… Continue reading
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The Fantasy of State Neutrality
This is a translation of my op-ed that that was published yesterday on the website of La Presse. *** The Parti Québécois proposes, if it wins the elections, to enact a « Charte de la laïcité » (Charter of secularism) for Québec. This charter would, among other things, prohibit civil servants from wearing “ostentatious religious symbols.” This prohibition… Continue reading
Double Aspect 