Thread

Montreal adopts bylaw banning insults against police, municipal employees

80 points · 84 comments · MC995

petcat · 1790176685 · focus · HN ↗
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.
[1] <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/482/451" rel="nofollow">https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/482/451
1. hmokiguess · 1790177130 · focus · HN ↗
  Good for them, if only Canada was able to understand that.
2. andy99 · 1790177373 · focus · HN ↗
  Canada has a charter of rights and freedoms, but there’s a section that allows governments to override it at will so it’s effectively worthless. And nobody knows that better than Quebec.
  1. busymom0 · 1790178300 · focus · HN ↗
    Doesn't Quebec have it's own slightly different constitution than the Canada wide one? If I remember right, there's been cases where things aren't allowed per Canada Charter but are allowed per Quebec's own one.
    wasabi991011 · 1790181729 · focus · HN ↗
    Sure, Quebec has a different constitution than Canada, but this isn't any different than US states having their own constitutions too.
    The difference is that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has a "notwithstanding clause" which, when invoked, allows a province to avoid having one of its laws struck down by federal courts even if it goes against some parts of the Canadian Charter (though only applies to some rights, not all).
  2. fred_is_fred · 1790178613 · focus · HN ↗
    In Quebec's version of this law it's legal to insult politicians and police - but only in French.
    neko_ranger · 1790180669 · focus · HN ↗
    tabarnak
    red-iron-pine · 1790189465 · focus · HN ↗
    the sad part is I can't tell if this is true or not
  3. wasabi991011 · 1790181911 · focus · HN ↗
    Eh, "effectively worthless" is a stretch, you still might have to spend political capital and breed resentment when invoking it, there's a reason the notwithstanding is not invoked every time.
3. mig39 · 1790177419 · focus · HN ↗
  Canada's first amendment is about a completely different topic :-)
4. fsckboy · 1790177431 · focus · HN ↗
  >and the US Supreme Court struck it down as a clear 1st Amendment violation
  you do realize that Montreal, Canada is not in the 51st state, correct?
  1. gazook89 · 1790177809 · focus · HN ↗
    It is possible to read a story and relate it to your own circumstances.
    VCFundedGenYer · 1790182024 · focus · HN ↗
    The root comment speaks as if Montreal is a US city, which it is not.
    It is valid to remind and affirm that Canada is a different country with a totally different landscape of rights.
    petcat · 1790183059 · focus · HN ↗
    I'm aware that Montreal is not part of the United States.
    But since this website serves a primarily American audience, I was curious if such a law was possible in the US and I found that it is not. So I posted that.
5. voidfunc · 1790178169 · focus · HN ↗
  I really wonder if that would still get struck down by the SCOTUS of 2026. If give it 50/50 odds.
  1. petcat · 1790179755 · focus · HN ↗
    The current supreme court cited the 1987 Houston ruling in both 2024 and 2025 in decisions that reaffirmed insulting police officers as constitutionally protected speech.
    So yes, the current SCOTUS has already upheld it.
    red-iron-pine · 1790189574 · focus · HN ↗
    but no support for constitutionally based protection from bullets, cuz ICE be killing US citizens
    but you can legally call them cunts, so that's okay I guess
    petcat · 1790201723 · focus · HN ↗
    This is what happens in China.
    <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiMLVYK4hEc" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiMLVYK4hEc

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