Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Conservative website shuttered after libel ruling [Free Dominion]
Ottawa Citizen ^ | January 28, 2014 | Andrew Duffy

Posted on 01/29/2014 7:14:41 AM PST by conniew

Conservative website shuttered after libel ruling

Ottawa lawyer Richard Warman wins long-running legal battle

By Andrew Duffy, OTTAWA CITIZEN January 28, 2014

OTTAWA — The online political forum, Free Dominion, has shut down after a wholesale defeat in a libel case brought by Ottawa human rights lawyer Richard Warman.

A jury concluded that Warman was maliciously defamed by four commentators on Free Dominion, a website that bills itself as “the voice of principled conservatism.”

Warman has been awarded more than $127,000 in general damages, aggravated damages, punitive damages and court costs because of 41 defamatory statements published on the conservative website in 2007.

Warman rose to prominence during the past decade by using the Canadian Human Rights Act to shut down the websites of people spreading hate speech; it made him the target of free speech advocates in the conservative blogosphere, and on websites such as Free Dominion.

In a recently released decision, Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Smith granted Warman a permanent injunction that prohibits Free Dominion from ever repeating “in any manner whatsoever” any of the 41 defamations.

The website’s operators, Connie and Mark Fournier, of Kingston, this week shut down freedominion.ca, saying they could not control what comments other people posted.

“By leaving the forum open and allowing people to comment, we’d be opening ourselves to a contempt-of-court charge,” Connie Fournier said Tuesday.

“If someone repeated one of those comments, we would be in trouble — and could even go to jail.”

The Fourniers have operated the website as a “labour of love” for the past 13 years.

“It’s really sad to be at the point where we have to shut down the political forum,” she said. “But we’ve come to the point where it would be crazy for us to keep it open: it would be too much of a risk.”

They have vowed to appeal the defamation case and have launched a campaign on Indiegogo.com to raise money for their legal costs. The campaign has so far raised $2,800 of its $25,000 goal.

The Warman case is among the first to address at trial what constitutes defamation in the caustic political blogosphere. It adds to case law that suggests the Internet does not shield anonymous posters from legal action if they wrongfully attack someone’s reputation.

On his website, Warman said the case offers lessons for anyone involved in an Internet blog or forum. Chief among them, he said, is the idea that “If you make a mistake, admit it, repair the harm, and move on.”

Connie Fournier, however, said that if the case stands on appeal it will impair the once vibrant Canadian blogosphere.

“I think this is a terrible thing for free speech on the Internet,” she said. “When people who are allowing comments on their blogs and forums look at humongous costs and damage rulings like this, at injunctions that could put them in jail, they’re not going to want to take the risk of opening their site.”

The jury found that the four defendants — Roger Smith, Jason Bertucci, Connie and Mark Fournier — had been “malicious, high-handed and oppressive” in their conduct. Justice Smith also found the defendants had acted unreasonably by refusing to accept Warman’s offer to settle the case for $5,000 each.

Warman had to fight in court to obtain the identifies of those anonymous posters who had left defamatory comments on Free Dominion. The case dragged on for six years, culminating in a three-week trial before a six-person jury.

The Fourniers have never apologized or issued a retraction about the statements found to be defamatory.

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Breaking News; Canada; Constitution/Conservatism; Free Republic; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: anonymous; canada; canadahumanrights; censorship; defamation; freedominion; freespeech; libel; moralabsolutes; posters; richardwarman; tyranny; unfreedominion
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 261-280281-300301-320 ... 341-351 next last
To: backhoe

Thanks, backhoe! <3


281 posted on 02/01/2014 12:21:10 PM PST by conniew
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 274 | View Replies]

To: Albion Wilde

Mark Steyn has been SO good about this! He wrote about it on his site and he has been retweeting me and tweeting the link to our indiegogo.

He’s the man!


282 posted on 02/01/2014 12:22:09 PM PST by conniew
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 276 | View Replies]

To: kaehurowing
Canada does not have the First Amendment nor protections for free speech. It’s why pastors there will eventually be jailed for proclaiming the gospel.

A pastor out west here was ordered by a Human Rights Tribunal to retract a letter he wrote to the editor and given a cease and desist order that basically said he was never to speak negatively about homosexuality again in his life.

Fortunately a court overturned it. But, it could easily have gone the other way.

BTW, his letter was not hateful. He simply stated his Christian viewpoint.

283 posted on 02/01/2014 12:25:28 PM PST by conniew
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 277 | View Replies]

To: MARKUSPRIME

Thanks, Markusprime! Good to see you!


284 posted on 02/01/2014 12:26:16 PM PST by conniew
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 279 | View Replies]

To: conniew

Unless we stepped away and someone in another country took over the site.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

There might be a way.


285 posted on 02/01/2014 1:37:33 PM PST by Candor7 (Obama fascism article:(http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/barack_obama_the_quintessentia_1.html))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 280 | View Replies]

To: conniew
Thank you for alerting us to what is happening north of the border.

For those of us in the United States: This is why American conservatives need to remember the importance of the First Amendment. Liberals can be very annoying, and their attacks on conservatives in office can be disruptive and even dangerous, but it is absolutely essential that citizens have the right to criticize their government. That means we need to defend the right of anyone, even liberals, to spout nonsense and make idiotic attacks via the public press.

The John Peter Zenger case in colonial New York, via jury nullification, established the principle that truth is an absolute defense against libel. Subsequent case law worked out the implications of that principle, including that opinion cannot be prosecuted because it can't be proved true or false. Therefore, attacks on people, even when very strongly worded, cannot be prosecuted if they are statements of opinion.

Liberals are wrong on a lot of things, but defending freedom of speech and of the press is not being “liberal” — it is being faithful to the clear original intent and written words of the Constitution.

Let's never forget that.

286 posted on 02/01/2014 2:41:15 PM PST by darrellmaurina
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: knarf

Canucks are such wussies if we were not covering their behinds they would be marching to a May Day tune, neck they are.
This lawyer buddy needs to go fishing with Vine and Anthony my twin cousins from Crook County the place of my birth.


287 posted on 02/01/2014 4:02:02 PM PST by WilliamRobert (Obama so loves the poor he created millions more.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: conniew

Seems to me the FR could possibly offer them a forum in exchange for chipping in to FR’s site. And the domain itself could be made to redirect into that. Canada can’t do anything about what’s administered from the USA.

But it’s ultimately up to Canada whether its people want to keep on in that manner. Canada is much colder towards God than America is, with some localized exceptions. That takes a spiritual toll in cowardice.


288 posted on 02/01/2014 4:59:25 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (The Lion of Judah will roar for you if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: darrellmaurina

Libel still can be successfully prosecuted in America if “actual malice” can be shown and the account is untrue. It is not impossible.


289 posted on 02/01/2014 5:03:52 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (The Lion of Judah will roar for you if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 286 | View Replies]

To: HiTech RedNeck

The server was in Panama. I guess it doesn’t matter where that is


290 posted on 02/01/2014 5:07:35 PM PST by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 288 | View Replies]

To: conniew

If Canada wants to dig itself into such a self intimidated hole badly enough, running from its own shadow, it will. God will let that happen.

That noted, let me add the following.

The message every serious Christian should bring to homosexuals (and other sinners) is that there is a supernaturally charmed, better way to live. Too often it stops at “it’s a lousy rotten thing to do that” without offering the Lord’s hand up. And sometimes quite a powerful hand is needed to raise the practicing homosexual above pre-existing spiritual burdens which lowered his world view enough to make what he is doing now look acceptable. It is a grief to me that this is not an issue that the church has not approached square on, in person, with the people thus grievously affected.


291 posted on 02/01/2014 5:10:03 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (The Lion of Judah will roar for you if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 283 | View Replies]

To: GeronL

The operation from Canada was what seemed to matter here. But even more as someone else pointed out, just saying certain things on it from Canada is being persecuted.

Canada could rise up and fix the problem with its cowardly suppression of truth. Human rights shouldn’t be that nobody criticizes you, but rather that if you do get unfairly criticized you get at least an equal soapbox to refute it.

It is the difference between a redemptive worldview and one of desperate pretense in the face of obvious evil.


292 posted on 02/01/2014 5:13:32 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (The Lion of Judah will roar for you if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 290 | View Replies]

To: HiTech RedNeck

I included one too many “nots” in the last sentence, which ought to read

It is a grief to me that this is not an issue that the church has approached square on, in person, with the people thus grievously affected.


293 posted on 02/01/2014 5:51:09 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (The Lion of Judah will roar for you if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 291 | View Replies]

To: HiTech RedNeck
Yep... as you probably already know, public figures and public officials have special rules in the post-”New York Times v. Sullivan” legal environment.

Private figures can win a libel lawsuit much more easily due to relatively minor mistakes without actual malice.

The bar is very high but not impossible to meet with public officials and public figures — proving “reckless disregard for the truth” is commonly the focus of the libel lawsuit if it's clear that there was a serious error of fact.

But what appears to have happened with “Free Dominion” could not have happened under current American libel law. The person who brought the lawsuit is unquestionably a public figure, with all the high standards of proof that requires.

I'm anything but a fan of the ACLU, but on this issue of “hate speech,” the liberals are divided and there's a significant group of American liberals who are quite emphatic on the older ACLU position of allowing such things as the Nazi march in Skokie. I personally think Nazis should be prosecuted as traitors, but that's a whole different issue.

294 posted on 02/01/2014 9:20:57 PM PST by darrellmaurina
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 289 | View Replies]

To: conniew
Mark Steyn has been SO good about this! He wrote about it on his site and he has been retweeting me and tweeting the link to our indiegogo.

Praise God...

295 posted on 02/02/2014 7:32:37 AM PST by Albion Wilde (The less a man knows, the more certain he is that he knows it all.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 282 | View Replies]

To: conniew
ANYTHING negative is considered to be defamatory under Ontario defamation law.

Communism.

296 posted on 02/02/2014 12:36:21 PM PST by Republican Wildcat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: DoughtyOne

Per the post above, making any negative comment is considered defamatory.


297 posted on 02/02/2014 12:42:46 PM PST by Republican Wildcat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 190 | View Replies]

To: conniew
Sorry to hear Connie.

I was an early member who drifted away over time.

298 posted on 02/02/2014 12:46:32 PM PST by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Republican Wildcat

Swell. /s :^)


299 posted on 02/02/2014 12:53:24 PM PST by DoughtyOne (Amnesty is job NONE! It isn't even the leading issue with Hipanics.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 297 | View Replies]

To: conniew

Richard Warman is clearly not a nice person and almost certainly a totalitarian. He clearly does NOT believe in human rights.

Please go to http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/anonymous-troll-could-send-us-to-jail and help our friends at Free Dominion to appeal.


300 posted on 02/02/2014 7:36:32 PM PST by TBP (Obama lies, Granny dies.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 261-280281-300301-320 ... 341-351 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson