Friday, September 30, 2011

Aussie 'human right' to be offended affirmed

Mark Steyn: Bad news for Andrew Bolt (and most other Aussies):

... guilty verdict against Andrew Bolt...  Justice Mordecai Bromberg’s ruling is absolutely appalling in the precedent it sets for “freedom” of speech in Australia....
... Bromberg’s execrable decision has dramatically incentivized the willingness of favored groups to take offence – and dramatically constrained the ability of mainstream media commentators even to raise the issue. Shame on Australia.
Updates:

Andrew Bolt reacts -
My big mistake: "... The judge has ruled that none of the “fair skinned Aborigines” who took legal actual against me had a choice in deciding their “racial identity”, and I broke the law to say that they did and in the way that I did...."
To appeal against racial division is now racist: "... It’s a nightmare. A world in which things are the deemed the opposite of what they are, and we must choke on our dissent, is what we have come to. ... (Once again, no comments, because it has become too dangerous to print many. And so your free speech has effecitvely been limited, too, by this attack on my own.)"
Canadian connection - Justice Bromberg cited the SCC Taylor decision in his ruling.

2 comments:

hunter said...

I hope this ruling can be appealed.

JR said...

That would be good. Though he doesn't hint at an apeal in his reactions to the ruling (see update). I wonder if he can, or wants to, afford the time, money and aggravation.