Free Chronicle-Herald!

Kudos to the Chronicle-Herald;

EDITOR’S NOTE: We’ve decided to publish the name of the victim in this story, despite a court-ordered ban. We believe it’s in the public interest in this unique case, given the widespread recognition of Rehtaeh Parsons’ name, and given the good that can come, and has already come, from free public debate over sexual consent and the other elements of her story.
Rehtaeh’s parents want her name printed, and Judge Jamie Campbell, who upheld the publication ban, wrote in his decision that “the ban serves no purpose,” though he had no choice but to uphold it. Waiving Rehtaeh’s privacy rights “would be a good thing, if it could be done just for this case, just this once,” the judge wrote.
It is difficult for readers to follow a news story when the name associated with it is omitted, and we want to inform Nova Scotians of the outcome of this legal case. We would like to reassure other crime victims that their own court-ordered privacy rights will be respected as always.

45 Replies to “Free Chronicle-Herald!”

  1. I’m pleased the Chronicle-Herald defied the ban, but I’m still confused as to the reason for the ban in the first place. In that it’s far too late to protect Rehtaeh’s identity, I can only assume it’s to somehow diminish the participation of the two creeps who assaulted her. And NO assault charges? NO jail time? Disgusting.

  2. This being Canada, I think we can reasonably expect to see time served on the order of exactly zero, given that people convicted of actually murdering children with their own hands seem to average about three years. Nothing to see here folks, we’ve had our show trial and conveyed our righteous anger, etc etc harrummph blah blah blah, and never forget that vengefulness lowers us to their level, and the law in its majesty and so forth.
    Flog them until their skin falls off, then throw them in a deep dark hole and let them rot. Teach a lesson the horde of sociopathic misogynistic young thugs out there will immediately grasp.

  3. Thanks for that “perfect Michael”. Hopefully there’s nothing you’ve done that would warrant that exact punishment just as a lesson for others who might do the same.

  4. From an email sent to a friend March 6:
    “Personally, I find it amusing that so many people who think the earth is grossly overpopulated with humans are exactly the same people who abhor the death penalty or self-defense (or even police intervention) to the point of lethal force.”
    It’s the one thing enviro-loons and I see eye to eye on: there really ARE too many people, given our world is so choked with scumbags like that. Time to take out the trash, which – oops – includes people like Paul Watson. It’s war.

  5. Well, whoever-the-f*ck-you-are, you defender of filth, I never HAVE done anything that would warrant that kind of punishment or anything even CLOSE to it.
    I’m completely unsurprised a leftist piece of trash troll like you imagines everyone is wallowing in the gutter like you. That’s the exact definition of the leftist at the end of the day: an amoral and demoralizing cynical crawling scumwad. Someone who wants the entire human species to descend to their level – the level of a leech or some other bloodsucking parasite. Welcome to the world of your betters, dirtbag.

  6. Michael feel free to peruse all my other posts here to confirm I’m no leftist. You are completely off the wall crazy in your comments on this, however. Try some Blatchford balance. I’m guessing you’re greatly in favour of thousands of abortions every day because there’s too many folk on this here planet? Are you lefty or righty, my friend?

  7. Sorry – I guess I was labouring under the delusion that I’m a better writer than most people and was therefore relatively easy to understand. Let’s try this again:
    I believe there exists an excess of BAD people. Something on the order of (really just a wild guess) hundreds of millions. Maybe a few billion.
    I’d like to see a lot of them punished using the most draconian methods devised.
    I believe that tolerance of their behaviour, at the personal level (like you) and at a societal level has its roots in leftism, from epic substance abuse to sexual license, abuse, and obsession of a destructive nature, to criminality both petty and murderous.
    If you think raping a girl and putting a picture of the act on the Net, then threatening the victim’s father is okay, you and I will never agree on ANYTHING of ANY IMPORTANCE in this life. In fact, you are my enemy.
    I am far from “perfect” – but I work at being a BETTER human being every waking moment. (sarc) I beg your pardon if that offends you. (/sarc) I never mentioned abortion, because it isn’t germane to the subject under discussion. Looking at your initial response to me, I should ask: are you anti-abortion, but pro-rape?
    Now PISS OFF!

  8. If you think raping a girl and putting a picture of the act on the Net…is okay…
    Why was she in that condition, again? Seems to me if you don’t want a predator to take advantage, one wouldn’t make it easy for them.

  9. I would still like to know where the parents are in all of this and why people think it’s alright to cultivate a culture where teen-age booze/sex parties and sending filthy pictures are just parts and parcels of growing up.

  10. Understood, Kate.
    I don’t think, myself, that the parents are responsible for creating that culture – at least, no more than the rest of us are for tolerating it. That is our culture, like it or not, and it is the source of staggering profit for innumerable exploitative industries we also take for granted.
    Singapore (for example) has a very different culture: people – even tourists – are caned for vandalism there. Does their different definition of what constitutes the freedom/responsibility equation make them worse than us? I for one don’t think so. I am a social conservative, not because I’m perfect but because I think we can and (I think history will eventually bear this out as it has in other cultures) MUST do better.
    Nuff said. I am already smelling the odor of blame-the-victim here, and had better bow out before I get more riled than that first response made me. Yeah, it’s foolish for a young girl to put herself in the position of being victimized – but that NEVER means some ratbag has to victimize her.

  11. This kind of news disturbing. Who should blame I know criminal or social life or public relation skills. First how teach children safty and security where or when to go. Some kids see us as old fashion way and not like advice because want freedom withh no border to do or go anywhere they want. Second learn to talk in front of different people differently socially third learn self defence karateh is good self stem to kids if not abuse that power nexxt: police video security watch dog station for all public transport by security guard watch all statin street car and busses has eemergency bottom in bus station talk to police put all train subway metal fence before train stop prevent suicide or accident of fall down in front of railways. For built every new technology I noticed goverment need validation engineer who train in saftey and security of use that new technology do not over sell buss ticket if no seat availble reduce taxi with coupon of gas I think taxi fair must chhanged in canada. Advice children for t

  12. Yeah, it’s foolish for a young girl to put herself in the position of being victimized – but that NEVER means some ratbag has to victimize her.
    Unilaterally disarming oneself always means some ‘ratbag’ will take advantage.
    Getting all up in arms after the fact doesn’t help the victims who insist on disarming themselves.

  13. There is no conclusive evidence that they raped her anymore than there is evidence that she raped them. Everything points to a drunken teenage party that got out of hand. They were all drinking and in all likelihood they were all drunkenly consenting. Stupidity eventually resulted in tragic consequences. The guy who sent out her picture is a scumbag but hardly guilty of anything else. She could not deal with the consequences of her own behaviour and now we have cyberbulling laws and idiots demanding that drunken teenagers having $eks will be crucified.

  14. This comment and the earlier one Posted by: Osumashi Kinyobe “I would still like to know where the parents are in all of this and why people think it’s alright to cultivate a culture where teen-age booze/s e x parties and sending filthy pictures are just parts and parcels of growing up.” summarize this situation perfectly.
    Rape and assault are wrong, but in this case there’s no firm evidence any rape or assault was committed, nor was this the first incident of this nature she willingly participated in. The real scumbags are her parents for not properly parenting, and even worse for capitalizing on the incident for their own fame.

  15. If you scr-w someone who is so drunk that she vomits out the window, and clearly not in any state to consent, then what is that? Just a bit of fun at a party?
    Really, people, how are you thinking?

  16. And if the boys are just as drunk and without faculties to make good decisions, they are still the bad guys in this?
    And to Michael Anderson – I did take some time to read a lot of what you have posted here. Much of it is you calling someone a lefty troll because you don’t like what they’ve posted, telling them to leave so the adults can discuss, then you proceed with quite a bit of vulgarity in what you call your arguments. That’s how things go down at WK.com. It’s kind of rare here which is why I took offense.

  17. Apparently the law is written in such a way that the judge had zero discretion on whether he could impose the ban. The victim was under 18 years old, therefore the ban was automatic, even though she’s already dead.
    Savage irony: when the girl NEEDED privacy to be able to try & put this awful night behind her, she couldn’t get it. The pictures & the bullying followed her everywhere she went. It was only after she killed herself and the charges were finally laid that the ban kicked in, far too late to help her.
    The law in this case was simply an ass.

  18. This case is a textbook example of the denial of the parent to accept they have failed at parenting, and lashing out and blaming the world for that failure. This poor girl offed herself not because of the wild sex filled parties she enjoyed, but because of mommy dearest interfering and making this into something it was not. Her mothers actions after learning of her tryst with the boys ensured the whole country would know about it. Now we have Harper allowing authorities to sweep and collect all data on the Internet without a court order, because…for Rethaeh.

  19. No matter what their reasons. No matter if they are right or wrong in the decision to publish the name.
    The Chronicle- Herald is all that is wrong with today’s media rolled into one organization. They are to be scorned and belittled regularly. Leftist toady rag writ large.

  20. ah yes, the lefty rag is wrong!!! No the system is wrong, period. People think they live in privacy only to find out there is an internet and other such media. If the was much less “secrecy” in governance and imposed by stupid laws maybe the adults would take time to make sure that the “kids” were ware of this a mostly act accordingly. There is very little that government needs to dictate privacy over, and even less were they need “confidentiality” in doing their jobs. If anyone in here has been the victim of a “whisper” champagne shielded by “confidential” protocols and laws they will understand that. All this “privacy” helps parents vacate their duties in the job of parenting.

  21. Wild horses and all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t drag the young lady off those guys. The cops didn’t charge anyone with se*ual assault because there was none. She was old enough and lucid enough to argue with other kids and a parent who wanted her to go home. She made a bad decision as does pretty much every kid at some time in their life. She just lacked the ability to cope. Given the general promiscuity of teenagers today I am not sure what her problem was. Every kid is periodically mortally embarrassed but they usually get over it.
    Child pornography was a charge that shouldn’t have been sustained. There was no por*ography, at all. There was a side view of what appeared to be a se* act but kiddie por* requires mens rea, a guilty mind. They had to be deliberately creating por*, not simply recording a milepost in their lives. The poor kid pled guilty with virtual no penalty to save a lynching. What remains of the case is bad law.

  22. The National Post has an article from the father begging us not to blame the victim – his daughter. All very nice, but I really don’t think anyone is blaming the victim. We ARE blaming him and her mother – both clearly failed this child and were willfully blind to the lifestyle she was leading. You can’t blame a 15 year old as they are immature and not 100% of the consequences to their actions.
    However her parents either didn’t care to find out where their daughter was or thought it was fine for a 15 year old to be drinking, going to stranger’s houses to party.

  23. My original comment has been spiked, but it seems the rest of the posters here have made the same points in aggregate for me. This is mob justice in pursuit of a concocted narrative about a dead “victim”.
    Seems to be a lot of that going around lately.

  24. @oldwhiteguy: we are protecting the LIVING. I’m astonished you don’t get that.
    @RN: vulgarity, boo hoo. (sarc) I beg your pardon for being passionate about wanting a better society. (/sarc) You appeared to be saying, sorry if I misunderstood it, that those guys were indulging in harmless standard-issue male horseplay, and that everyone does it, including me – and YOU took offense when I was angry about that assertion. That’s a pretty common attitude in many circles nowadays, but again, I believe that’s because of the callousness and lack of compassion that have been inculcated in us by decades of exposure to leftist demoralization.
    @Johan i Kanada: thank you for adding another voice for sanity.
    Kids can easily become immersed in the prevailing culture of substance abuse and mindless anonymous sex whether or not their parents did a good job – I suspect some of you suggesting otherwise don’t have kids or have no memory of what it was like growing up. It isn’t just parenting that needs to change in our society, it’s pretty much everything. If draconian punishment – including the death penalty – changes a criminal’s mind or if necessary just takes him out to protect the living, it’s inherently a good thing.

  25. Has anyone else noticed how the judge stated if he stretched the publication ban (withdrew it)in this instance it could be used as a precedent with horrible consequences. He then very helpfully basically tells the media to publish and the crown not to prosecute. I kinda like him.

  26. “I was labouring under the delusion that I’m a better writer than most”
    Now you’ve identified your problem. Progress!

  27. Kids can easily become immersed in the prevailing culture of substance abuse and mindless anonymous sex whether or not their parents did a good job…
    Well duh, obviously they aren’t doing a good job if the children become involved in those things.
    Parents have full control over the activities of their children so long as they are minors. Not exercising that control is not an excuse.
    You sounds just like a leftist whining that it’s just too hard and the fault of society…

  28. I see have to explain myself over the insinuations that I was excusing crime or blaming the victim or some such rot.
    What I see in this case is a confluence of very bad and poorly managed things, people and events. The existing laws aren’t good enough and judges aren’t elected, so there’s that. You also have some of the worst parenting (or lack of it) that I have ever seen. Were there any parents, especially the ones who named their kid something stupid like Rehtaeh (there! I said it!), who instilled any values or responsibility into their kids? Who shrugs at marijuana use? Why give a kid a cell phone when you know that they won’t pay for it or use it responsibly? Did any parent slap a kid upside the head for taking filthy pictures? Sex parties?! Holy crap! Where are the adults?! Why wasn’t this stopped?! What parent makes a crusade out of something like this, blaming bullying, when they needed self-reflection and a quiet lawsuit?
    This whole thing was a mess from the start and plenty of fingers can be pointed in different directions.

  29. Oh I get it, two drunks are having $eks and the one who pukes is being raped and the one who does not is the rapist. So if he puked all over her back while plugging her while she was puking that would mean that they raped each other?
    What if she had to puke because of the gag reflex… if you know what I mean, is he still a rapist?

  30. It all comes down to no scorekeeping in sports and 100 % pass rate at school. We don’t teach kids to handle failure. A million kids have s*x and this kid kills herself because of teasing. Kids should be toughened up sometime.

  31. Why? Because I have no delusions about the reality of their drunken orgy in which they all enthusiastically participated?

  32. That’s what spanking used to be for, before it was outlawed. Kids get tougher, and also learn about the boundaries – a twofer!

  33. Screwing someone whose message is “I am too drunk to know what I am doing” is taking advantage.

  34. Right, she should not have taken advantage of those drunk boys. She clearly was sober enough to tell her friend and friend’s mother (while naked in bed with two boys) to leave her alone so she could take advantage of them. Really the only question is whether she has taken advantage of them simultaneously or of one after another.

  35. And the female Member of Parliament didn’t say no and provided the condom. Would she be a victim or simply stupid? After all, s*x is something women do to men. Whether I got it or didn’t get it seemed unrelated to anything I ever did.

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