Now, a Scottish man has been convicted of a message that was grossly offensive, indecent or menacing. According to the Evening Express, the prosecutor (appropriately named Susan Love) cited the fact that Terry Myers, 41, called the Irish boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend a “leprechaun.”
Love declared that the mail was threatening but added that it was a racially aggravated offense due to the use of the word “leprechaun.”
His defense attorney said that the two men had a “petty and pathetic” history and that his client regretted the use of the term.
He was nevertheless found guilty and fined £280 ($350) for the offense.
We have been following (here and here and here and and and here and and here and here) the worsening situation in England concerning free speech. The problem is trying to draw such lines rather than embracing free speech as protecting not just popular but unpopular and even hateful speech. Once you start as a government to criminalize speech, you end up on a slippery slope of censorship. – READ MORE
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