Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International

Scottish Man Convicted In Hate Crime Trial For Teaching Pug To Give Nazi Salute
screen-shot-2016-05-09-at-7-43-09-pmWe previously discussed the case of Mark Meechan who thought it was funny to train his pet pug Buddha to give a Nazi salute when he said “Sieg Heil.” It was a joke and clearly many could find it offensive. However, he was charged criminally and has now been convicted in yet another attack on free speech in the United Kingdom.

 Meehan is heard on the videotape “My girlfriend is always ranting and raving about how cute her dog is so I thought I would turn her into the least cute thing you could think of which is a Nazi.”

We have previously discussed the alarming rollback on free speech rights in the West, particularly in France (here and here and here and here and here and here) and England ( here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here). Much of this trend is tied to the expansion of hate speech and non-discrimination laws. Once allowed to criminalize speech, individuals and groups demand more and more prohibitions.  England is in a free fall over free speech and this week is yet another example.  The police have indicated that they are considering making wolf whistles the latest category of hate speech.We also have even seen comedians targeted with such court orders under this expanding and worrisome trend. (here and here).

Now a prank on a girlfriend with a pug could land a man in jail for months as a hate crime for being “grossly offensive.” There seems little concern over the subjectivity of such standards or it impacts free speech.  Moreover, not a single person even filed a complaint and Jewish comedians defended Meechan and warned of the implications of such criminalization of jokes.

Nevertheless Sheriff Derek O’Carroll told the court: “The accused knew that the material was offensive and knew why it was offensive. He would have known it was grossly offensive to many Jewish people.”  So you are now subject to arrest if you say something that could be deemed offensive to any group.

It is chilling to see how the United Kingdom has plunged head first into speech criminalization and regulation.  It is now a textbook example of how the appetite for speech criminalization becomes insatiable with time.

 

37 thoughts on “Scottish Man Convicted In Hate Crime Trial For Teaching Pug To Give Nazi Salute”

  3. I’m downright bloody offended by some of the things said in the Quran. Offensive things said about women, offensive things said about Jews. When is the British government going to prosecute the publishers of the Quran?

  4. INMATE: So what are you in for?
    MEECHAN: I taught my girlfriend’s dog a trick.
    INMATE: Ha Ha. No, seriously, why are you locked in this cage?
    MEECHAN: I told you. I taught the dog a trick.
    INMATE: What?
    MEECHAN: When the dog hears my vocal cords vibrate a certain way, it lifts it’s leg.
    INMATE: I’m confused. What then? Does it attack?
    MEECHAN: Nope.
    INMATE: So you’re saying they stole your liberty and locked you in a cage because you’ve trained the dog to lift it’s leg on cue?
    MEECHAN: You got it.
    INMATE: Wow. That’s medieval. Did deeply devout, Sharia law loving Muslims take over Scotland while I’ve been in here or what?
    MEECHAN: Not at all. It’s just that the West has developed an insidious and utter contempt for liberty.
    INMATE: I guess so. I’m already in a cage, so I can say and think what I want. This place is looking pretty sweet. Plus the beef stew on Wednesdays is tasty.
    MEECHAN: I’ll have more freedom locked in this cage that outside it. Maybe I’ll stay if the stew is as good as you claim.
    Inmate: I doubt they’ll let you stay. Enjoy your freedom before they let you out of the cage!

  5. It’s true. Nazis were pure evil.

    Collectivist, globalist liberals in America have killed 60 million babies in the womb since 1973.

    1.72 billion babies have been killed in the womb globally in the last 40 years.

    (Notably, abortion has occurred AFTER China, India and Southeast Asia have pushed populations to levels that dwarf those of the West).

    1. More hysterical wackjobbery. You’ve already shown that you’re a misogynist cretin by the other pap you smear here. Sorry, the era of women being the mere chattel of their nearest male relative is over. Women now control their own bodies. So sorry for your loss.

      this is to “I just wish a woman would control her own body toward mine someday” georgie

      1. Marky Mark Mark – tell that to the 13,000 reported cases of illegal FGM in Britain, none of which has been prosecuted. It is more important to go after a man who teaches his gf dog to Seig Heil.

  6. Can any human being be truly free when the government can control what he is allowed to say? The First Amendment protects the freedom of speech, regardless of content. That said, you can still be sued for slander or libel. Otherwise, the best defense against bad speech is either good speech or voting with your feet.

    Hopefully, this girl broke up with a guy who tried to hurt her by teaching her beloved, innocent dog a vile action. The best defense against this bad speech would be breaking up with him, and ensuring that this story got out so that decent women would refuse to go out with him.

    As long as Europe restricts the freedom of speech, it will add fuel to the fire of resistance and resentment. This actually encourages hateful organizations to proliferate, as they believe they are fighting the good fight for the right to speak. If they had that right, then everyone else could just ignore them.

    1. Oh, and I was surprised that there even still were stand up comedians in Europe to condemn this action.

      What do they talk about onstage if they are not allowed to offend anyone, anywhere? Must be the most boring shows ever…

    1. Hey Autumn. You’ve got me hooked on some of these contributors. I like how Styx just speaks his mind. You know rationally. Some good ones on YouTubs… for now…

      1. slohrss29, some of these indies are really great — and I keep discovering new ones which gives me hope. The “real resistance” — til they shut it down – to protect us you know =)

  8. Reblogged this on The Inquiring Mind and commented:
    This is what happens when you start oppressing free speech to protect one point of view.
    Plus the increased tendency of police taking excessive action in this area.

  10. wow. UK is done done double done. Even if they ever get their Brexit completed they have lost their freedom. Monty Python RIP

  11. Just wait until someone contacts the authorities to complain that they are offended by the aroma of their neighbor cooking bacon. This will go downhill very fast.

  12. This alludes to Second Amendment rights. If the colonial people in the North American colonies of England did not have guns which were competitive with the Red Coats, then we could not have won the Revolutionary War. If the Redcoats had automatic weapons back in those days then the colonial militias which had been fighting Indians and whatnot would have had to have automatic firearms to compete. Today we need automatic weapons in our homes so we can form a militia to take out the Koch Brothers when they take over and rule over the army. As for the pug he is cute. As for the Scot he cannot speak English. He wears ear rings. He should be prosecuted for being a fag.
    The nit wits in the United Kingdom still have a Queeny. They have other generations of Princes to follow. They have a House of Lords. Yet they eat Crisco on Sunday. So sayeth the Lard.

  13. So where is isaac telling us about how the more advanced countries in the world blah, blah, blah…..

  14. Is it just me or does this head line look like something that would come from The Weekly World News.

    1. Or The Onion! Frightening that humanity appears to have lost its sense of humor.

  15. The next time some anti gun advocate mentions the gun laws in the U.K. remember what else accompanies them.

    No written guarantee of rights as in Bill of Rights, usually leads to limited rights.

  16. Ash, I had the same thoughts re: mocking. In the film “Educating Rita”, Rita does it to mock Frank after he admonishes her to sit down and write a proper essay. Will the Scots ban watching that film?

  17. There is no free speech in the UK and hate speech is whatever they want it to be.

        1. Squeeky – just ran across a headline somewhere. He is going to sneak her DNA and get it tested. If I were her, I would not put anything down. 🙂

          1. Hmmm. Maybe that is what she was really up to at the Indian Reservation a few weeks ago??? Collecting up Cherokee and Choctaw DNA from the trash cans to leave around for people to find. . .

            Squeeky Fromm
            Girl Reporter

    2. LOL!

      I love humor about life & things.

      But working with a family member & speaking with others dealing with the issues of all the different types of cancers & treatment, finance & how many die or are forever harmed by the current treatments… AND those that are Help & Saved.

      If anyone of us can do comedy/humor in front of these crowds we/they truly are bless.

      I think most everyone will in one way or another, multiple times, I suggest they Ck CTCA as They/I’m not buying a used car/truck with time to shop.

      Checkin out soon 4 the eve.

      1. Typo: I think most everyone will in one way or another, multiple times, deal with family/friends with cancer… I suggest they Ck CTCA as They/I’m not buying a used car/truck with time to shop.

    3. Attempting humor, it’s rough. LOL

      Dark Humor.

      The Doc sezs we’re going to Nuke crap out of those tumor Bit*chs.

      LOL, I don’t think I can sell it to the crowd, is he speaking of the tumors or of the patients with the tumors.

      But where in the hell are the jokes about tumors?

      And I’m going to leave the Colin jokes to the Ken twins here.

      1. “Attempting humor, it’s rough. LOL

        Dark Humor.”

        Sorry, I’ve got try the humor:

        English,Irish & Scottish women are claimed to say Size Matters, they wish it Larger!

        LOL! That may be true until they’re waiting for the results of the MRI, PET Scan & Cat Scan & then they praying tumor smaller.

        Good news yesterday was they are nuking the Crap out of that tumor bit*ch. Much smaller now.

  20. I’m Jewish, fwiw, it’s not offensive to me. It seems to mock the idiot reflexive heil gesture, and one people use on others behind their backs to indicate they think their boss/girlfriend/husband/cop/judge/teacher/principal is being a nazi.

    In other speech news today, Amnesty International has declared that “Twitter violates womens’ human rights,”

    https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/20/twitter-violates-womens-human-rights-according-to-amnesty-international/

    > Amnesty International’s new report, “#ToxicTwitter: Violence and abuse against women online,” details Twitter’s failures to ensure safety online and prevent violence and abuse toward women. What Amnesty International is trying to achieve with this report, the organization’s technology and human rights researcher Azmina Dhrodia told TechCrunch, is to look at why and how this is a human rights issue.

    > By framing it as a human rights issue, Amnesty International says it hopes to be able to push Twitter to enforce its own policies consistently and be transparent about how it’s doing so.

    > “Twitter’s failure to adequately and consistently enforce their own policies is leading women to either silence or censor themselves online,” Dhrodia told me. “So women are either leaving the platform, they’re thinking five or six times over before they post anything, they’re taking social media breaks. They’re coming up with a whole bunch of different coping mechanisms in order to avoid violence and abuse because they know by speaking out, it’s not going to be dealt with.”

    1. Ash, I had the same thoughts re: mocking. In the film “Educating Rita”, Rita does it to mock Frank after he admonishes her to sit down and write a proper essay. Will the Scots ban watching that film?

    2. It’s ironic — and frightening — that the more tools we have with which to communicate and connect (not always the same thing), the more speech repression we encounter.

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