Grab her by the licence plate? Nova Scotia man's ’Grabher’ licence plate deemed offen
- Thread starter spaminator
- Start date
Think about it for a moment. The Ministry, ergo the Province, has told this man that his family name is offensive. I wouldn't just be taking this to court, I'd also be taking before the Human Rights Commission and suing the snot out of the province for it. Too bad he can't find out who the original complainant was so he could sue the snot out them too. Maybe when it starts costing progtards actual money for being whiny little a$$wipes, they'll quit whining and complaining about every little thing.
The name isn't good enough for a licence plate ... but it's okay on all his ID, the drivers licence, the vehicle ownership - not to mention the name under which he pays all those fees. If the name's good enough to put on the door (expression, nit-pickers) it's good enough to put on the plate
The big issue is that he's had the plate for 26 years, and all of a sudden someone is offended because of Trump. I think the fact that his use of the plate pre-dates Trumps comments make that argument invalid.
N.S. man wins $750 from province amid lengthy battle over 'Grabher' licence plate
Canadian Press
More from Canadian Press
Published:
June 22, 2018
Updated:
June 22, 2018 12:14 PM EDT
A Nova Scotia retiree has been awarded $750 following an earlier court skirmish over a report that claimed a licence plate bearing his last name supports sexual violence against women. Lorne Grabher displays his personalized licence plate in Dartmouth, N.S. on Friday, March 24, 2017.Andrew Vaughan / THE CANADIAN PRESS
HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia government has to reimburse a retiree for a court skirmish over a report suggesting a licence plate bearing his last name supports sexual violence against women.
Lorne Grabher has been trying to reinstate his personalized licence plate since it was revoked in 2016 by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles following an anonymous complaint about the plate.
In February, Grabher’s lawyer fought to strike a Crown report by a McGill University professor linking the plate text — GRABHER — to derogatory comments about women made by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Grabher was awarded $750 in court costs in a decision released this week, but he won’t actually be getting a cheque.
The money will offset the costs — also $750 — that Grabher had been ordered to pay after the Crown succeeded in getting portions of his affidavit struck earlier this year.
Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Pierre Muise said the same costs award “will do justice between the parties.”
Grabher’s trial will resume in early September, where he will make constitutional arguments against the registrar’s regulations and its decision to revoke the plate.
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N.S. man wins $750 from province amid lengthy battle over ‘Grabher’ licence plate | Toronto Sun
Canadian Press
More from Canadian Press
Published:
June 22, 2018
Updated:
June 22, 2018 12:14 PM EDT
A Nova Scotia retiree has been awarded $750 following an earlier court skirmish over a report that claimed a licence plate bearing his last name supports sexual violence against women. Lorne Grabher displays his personalized licence plate in Dartmouth, N.S. on Friday, March 24, 2017.Andrew Vaughan / THE CANADIAN PRESS
HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia government has to reimburse a retiree for a court skirmish over a report suggesting a licence plate bearing his last name supports sexual violence against women.
Lorne Grabher has been trying to reinstate his personalized licence plate since it was revoked in 2016 by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles following an anonymous complaint about the plate.
In February, Grabher’s lawyer fought to strike a Crown report by a McGill University professor linking the plate text — GRABHER — to derogatory comments about women made by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Grabher was awarded $750 in court costs in a decision released this week, but he won’t actually be getting a cheque.
The money will offset the costs — also $750 — that Grabher had been ordered to pay after the Crown succeeded in getting portions of his affidavit struck earlier this year.
Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Pierre Muise said the same costs award “will do justice between the parties.”
Grabher’s trial will resume in early September, where he will make constitutional arguments against the registrar’s regulations and its decision to revoke the plate.
[youtube]eTokfS_l0bA[/youtube]
N.S. man wins $750 from province amid lengthy battle over ‘Grabher’ licence plate | Toronto Sun
’Grabher’ licence plate does not incite sexual violence, former researcher tells court
Canadian Press
Published:
April 24, 2019
Updated:
April 24, 2019 4:46 PM EDT
Lorne Grabher displays his personalized licence plate in Dartmouth, N.S. on Friday, March 24, 2017. Andrew Vaughan / THE CANADIAN PRESS
HALIFAX — A former sex researcher has told a Nova Scotia court she doesn’t believe that a licence plate bearing the surname of a retiree — “Grabher” — would promote sexual violence against women, as the provincial government has alleged.
Debra Soh, a science journalist and former academic researcher, testified in Nova Scotia Supreme Court that the word would have no impact on the average, socially adjusted person.
She said she wouldn’t expect anyone to act in a sexually violent way after seeing the plate unless they were anti-social and already predisposed to such behaviour.
“A licence plate on the road is not going to be a risk factor as to whether someone commits and offence,” said Soh, who has a PhD in psychology from York University and describes herself as an expert in treating sexual offenders.
Lorne Grabher has been trying to reinstate his personalized plate since it was revoked in 2016 by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles following an anonymous complaint from a woman who said the plate showed hatred toward women.
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Grabher purchased the plate as a gift for his late father in 1989, and he says it expressed pride in his family’s Austrian-German heritage.
A stocky, grey-haired man, Grabher listened intently Wednesday as Soh testified. She spent most of the day on the stand during the first day of the hearing before Justice Darlene Jamieson.
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Though Jamieson accepted Soh as an expert witness, the lawyer representing the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, Jack Townsend, told the court Soh did not have academic degrees or professional affiliations related to the media, language, communications or women’s studies.
Soh argued that as a science journalist she keeps up with the latest research that focuses on why men commit sexual offences.
Townsend also took issue with a 20-page report Soh prepared for the court, citing a number of assertions that he said were not supported by citations pointing to peer-reviewed research.
And when Townsend asked Soh a series of questions about the degree to which sexual assault is a problem in Canada, Soh responded that the country was facing many problems, all of which required resources to solve.
She went on to say that removing Grabher’s licence plate from public view wouldn’t accomplish anything in terms of reducing sexual violence.
Outside the court, Soh said she believed the province was “overreaching.”
Though she agreed in court that a “cultural slogan” on a government-sanctioned plate might carry some degree of authority, she insisted that wouldn’t be enough to incite a psychologically healthy person to become sexually violent.
In March 2017, a government spokesman said the plate wasn’t related to obscene comments made by Donald Trump in 2005 and released during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, in which Trump said he grabbed women by the genitals.
Soh’s report said there was no legitimate evidence to suggest the plate would conjure any associations with Trump’s lewd comments.
“Even if it was a reference to Mr. Trump’s comments, I don’t believe this would promote someone to go out and commit a sexual offence.”
Soh was retained by the Justice Centre for Academic Freedoms to respond to a report prepared by Prof. Carrie Rentschler, a communications studies professor at the McGill University in Montreal.
The hearing is slated to continue on Thursday.
http://torontosun.com/news/national...sexual-violence-former-researcher-tells-court
Canadian Press
Published:
April 24, 2019
Updated:
April 24, 2019 4:46 PM EDT
Lorne Grabher displays his personalized licence plate in Dartmouth, N.S. on Friday, March 24, 2017. Andrew Vaughan / THE CANADIAN PRESS
HALIFAX — A former sex researcher has told a Nova Scotia court she doesn’t believe that a licence plate bearing the surname of a retiree — “Grabher” — would promote sexual violence against women, as the provincial government has alleged.
Debra Soh, a science journalist and former academic researcher, testified in Nova Scotia Supreme Court that the word would have no impact on the average, socially adjusted person.
She said she wouldn’t expect anyone to act in a sexually violent way after seeing the plate unless they were anti-social and already predisposed to such behaviour.
“A licence plate on the road is not going to be a risk factor as to whether someone commits and offence,” said Soh, who has a PhD in psychology from York University and describes herself as an expert in treating sexual offenders.
Lorne Grabher has been trying to reinstate his personalized plate since it was revoked in 2016 by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles following an anonymous complaint from a woman who said the plate showed hatred toward women.
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet,
but your article continues below.
Grabher purchased the plate as a gift for his late father in 1989, and he says it expressed pride in his family’s Austrian-German heritage.
A stocky, grey-haired man, Grabher listened intently Wednesday as Soh testified. She spent most of the day on the stand during the first day of the hearing before Justice Darlene Jamieson.
Soccer fan sues over ’Come on You Whites’ licence plate ban in California
ASIMIL8: Man fighting in court to be allowed Star Trek licence plate
Sask. man named Assman has once again been denied ‘ASSMAN’ licence plate
Though Jamieson accepted Soh as an expert witness, the lawyer representing the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, Jack Townsend, told the court Soh did not have academic degrees or professional affiliations related to the media, language, communications or women’s studies.
Soh argued that as a science journalist she keeps up with the latest research that focuses on why men commit sexual offences.
Townsend also took issue with a 20-page report Soh prepared for the court, citing a number of assertions that he said were not supported by citations pointing to peer-reviewed research.
And when Townsend asked Soh a series of questions about the degree to which sexual assault is a problem in Canada, Soh responded that the country was facing many problems, all of which required resources to solve.
She went on to say that removing Grabher’s licence plate from public view wouldn’t accomplish anything in terms of reducing sexual violence.
Outside the court, Soh said she believed the province was “overreaching.”
Though she agreed in court that a “cultural slogan” on a government-sanctioned plate might carry some degree of authority, she insisted that wouldn’t be enough to incite a psychologically healthy person to become sexually violent.
In March 2017, a government spokesman said the plate wasn’t related to obscene comments made by Donald Trump in 2005 and released during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, in which Trump said he grabbed women by the genitals.
Soh’s report said there was no legitimate evidence to suggest the plate would conjure any associations with Trump’s lewd comments.
“Even if it was a reference to Mr. Trump’s comments, I don’t believe this would promote someone to go out and commit a sexual offence.”
Soh was retained by the Justice Centre for Academic Freedoms to respond to a report prepared by Prof. Carrie Rentschler, a communications studies professor at the McGill University in Montreal.
The hearing is slated to continue on Thursday.
http://torontosun.com/news/national...sexual-violence-former-researcher-tells-court
’Grabher’ licence plate does not incite sexual violence, former researcher tells court
Canadian Press
Published:
April 24, 2019
Updated:
April 24, 2019 4:46 PM EDT
Lorne Grabher displays his personalized licence plate in Dartmouth, N.S. on Friday, March 24, 2017. Andrew Vaughan / THE CANADIAN PRESS
HALIFAX — A former sex researcher has told a Nova Scotia court she doesn’t believe that a licence plate bearing the surname of a retiree — “Grabher” — would promote sexual violence against women, as the provincial government has alleged.
Debra Soh, a science journalist and former academic researcher, testified in Nova Scotia Supreme Court that the word would have no impact on the average, socially adjusted person.
She said she wouldn’t expect anyone to act in a sexually violent way after seeing the plate unless they were anti-social and already predisposed to such behaviour.
“A licence plate on the road is not going to be a risk factor as to whether someone commits and offence,” said Soh, who has a PhD in psychology from York University and describes herself as an expert in treating sexual offenders.
Lorne Grabher has been trying to reinstate his personalized plate since it was revoked in 2016 by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles following an anonymous complaint from a woman who said the plate showed hatred toward women.
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet,
but your article continues below.
Grabher purchased the plate as a gift for his late father in 1989, and he says it expressed pride in his family’s Austrian-German heritage.
A stocky, grey-haired man, Grabher listened intently Wednesday as Soh testified. She spent most of the day on the stand during the first day of the hearing before Justice Darlene Jamieson.
Soccer fan sues over ’Come on You Whites’ licence plate ban in California
ASIMIL8: Man fighting in court to be allowed Star Trek licence plate
Sask. man named Assman has once again been denied ‘ASSMAN’ licence plate
Though Jamieson accepted Soh as an expert witness, the lawyer representing the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, Jack Townsend, told the court Soh did not have academic degrees or professional affiliations related to the media, language, communications or women’s studies.
Soh argued that as a science journalist she keeps up with the latest research that focuses on why men commit sexual offences.
Townsend also took issue with a 20-page report Soh prepared for the court, citing a number of assertions that he said were not supported by citations pointing to peer-reviewed research.
And when Townsend asked Soh a series of questions about the degree to which sexual assault is a problem in Canada, Soh responded that the country was facing many problems, all of which required resources to solve.
She went on to say that removing Grabher’s licence plate from public view wouldn’t accomplish anything in terms of reducing sexual violence.
Outside the court, Soh said she believed the province was “overreaching.”
Though she agreed in court that a “cultural slogan” on a government-sanctioned plate might carry some degree of authority, she insisted that wouldn’t be enough to incite a psychologically healthy person to become sexually violent.
In March 2017, a government spokesman said the plate wasn’t related to obscene comments made by Donald Trump in 2005 and released during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, in which Trump said he grabbed women by the genitals.
Soh’s report said there was no legitimate evidence to suggest the plate would conjure any associations with Trump’s lewd comments.
“Even if it was a reference to Mr. Trump’s comments, I don’t believe this would promote someone to go out and commit a sexual offence.”
Soh was retained by the Justice Centre for Academic Freedoms to respond to a report prepared by Prof. Carrie Rentschler, a communications studies professor at the McGill University in Montreal.
The hearing is slated to continue on Thursday.
http://torontosun.com/news/national...sexual-violence-former-researcher-tells-court
Of course there will always be idiots who will try to make something of it!
Nova Scotia court says man’s rights not infringed when 'Grabher' plate was revoked
Canadian Press
Published:
January 31, 2020
Updated:
January 31, 2020 4:12 PM EST
Lorne Grabher displays his personalized licence plate in Dartmouth, N.S. on Friday, March 24, 2017. Andrew Vaughan / THE CANADIAN PRESS
HALIFAX — A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has dismissed a claim by a man who says the province infringed on his freedom of expression when it revoked a licence plate personalized with his surname — Grabher.
The Nova Scotia plate Lorne Grabher had for nearly 30 years was revoked in 2016 by the province’s Registrar of Motor Vehicles after the agency received a complaint from a woman who said it promoted hatred toward women.
In a 50-page decision released Friday, Justice Darlene Jamieson said there is no constitutionally protected right to freedom of expression in a government-owned, personalized licence plate.
’Grabher’ licence plate does not incite sexual violence, former researcher tells court
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NOT A RACIST: Soccer fan sues over ’Come on You Whites’ licence plate ban in California
The judge said licence plates are not “public spaces” with a history of free expression, adding she doesn’t believe people expect unlimited access to free expression on them. The fact the government has allowed limited access to the space does not make it a public space, she said.
However Jamieson said her ruling should not be taken to imply there is anything wrong with Grabher’s name.
“This decision is not about whether Mr. Grabher’s surname is offensive — it is not,” she wrote. “The decision is not intended in any way to diminish the importance of Mr. Grabher’s surname or the pride that Mr. Grabher and his family take and should take in their name and heritage.”
Jamieson said the registrar recalled the plate because the seven letters “GRABHER” could be interpreted as a socially unacceptable statement without the benefit of further context that license plates can’t provide.
“The primary function of a licence plate is not expression but is identification and regulation of vehicle ownership,” Jamieson wrote. “A licence plate by its very nature is a private government space.”
Jamieson said Grabher failed to establish that the registrar’s decision limited his equality rights and concluded its decision to revoke the plate was justified under provincial motor vehicle regulations.
Under the regulations, the registrar can refuse to issue personalized licence plates if the proposed combination of characters expresses or implies a word, phrase or idea that could be considered offensive or not in good taste.
The Nova Scotia decision follows one in Manitoba last October when Queen’s Bench Justice Sheldon Lanchberry ruled it was reasonable for Manitoba Public Insurance to revoke a Star Trek fan’s ASIMIL8 plate after receiving a complaint that it was offensive to Indigenous people.
Lanchberry ruled it was reasonable to take back Nick Troller’s plate, because the word is connected to the Indigenous experience and government policies of forced assimilation.
Grabher declined to comment Friday when contacted by The Canadian Press, but his lawyer said the court ruling would be reviewed before deciding on a possible appeal.
“I think that there are a number of problematic aspects to it,” said Jay Cameron of the Calgary-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.
He pointed to part of the Manitoba ruling in which the judge found that in permitting limited expression on personalized plates, the regulator had authorized a new location where free expression is entitled to protection — a finding Jamieson noted and disagreed with in her ruling.
Cameron also noted that Jamieson “basically ignored” the fact that Grabher had been issued the plate for nearly 30 years without objections being raised.
“What is the rationale for giving a bureaucrat the authority to take away the expression of somebody’s last name, when for 27 years it hasn’t caused a problem before?” he asked.
http://torontosun.com/news/national...-not-infringed-when-grabher-plate-was-revoked
Canadian Press
Published:
January 31, 2020
Updated:
January 31, 2020 4:12 PM EST
Lorne Grabher displays his personalized licence plate in Dartmouth, N.S. on Friday, March 24, 2017. Andrew Vaughan / THE CANADIAN PRESS
HALIFAX — A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has dismissed a claim by a man who says the province infringed on his freedom of expression when it revoked a licence plate personalized with his surname — Grabher.
The Nova Scotia plate Lorne Grabher had for nearly 30 years was revoked in 2016 by the province’s Registrar of Motor Vehicles after the agency received a complaint from a woman who said it promoted hatred toward women.
In a 50-page decision released Friday, Justice Darlene Jamieson said there is no constitutionally protected right to freedom of expression in a government-owned, personalized licence plate.
’Grabher’ licence plate does not incite sexual violence, former researcher tells court
’INAPPROPRIATE': ASIMIL8 plate shouldn’t have been issued, says Manitoba insurer
NOT A RACIST: Soccer fan sues over ’Come on You Whites’ licence plate ban in California
The judge said licence plates are not “public spaces” with a history of free expression, adding she doesn’t believe people expect unlimited access to free expression on them. The fact the government has allowed limited access to the space does not make it a public space, she said.
However Jamieson said her ruling should not be taken to imply there is anything wrong with Grabher’s name.
“This decision is not about whether Mr. Grabher’s surname is offensive — it is not,” she wrote. “The decision is not intended in any way to diminish the importance of Mr. Grabher’s surname or the pride that Mr. Grabher and his family take and should take in their name and heritage.”
Jamieson said the registrar recalled the plate because the seven letters “GRABHER” could be interpreted as a socially unacceptable statement without the benefit of further context that license plates can’t provide.
“The primary function of a licence plate is not expression but is identification and regulation of vehicle ownership,” Jamieson wrote. “A licence plate by its very nature is a private government space.”
Jamieson said Grabher failed to establish that the registrar’s decision limited his equality rights and concluded its decision to revoke the plate was justified under provincial motor vehicle regulations.
Under the regulations, the registrar can refuse to issue personalized licence plates if the proposed combination of characters expresses or implies a word, phrase or idea that could be considered offensive or not in good taste.
The Nova Scotia decision follows one in Manitoba last October when Queen’s Bench Justice Sheldon Lanchberry ruled it was reasonable for Manitoba Public Insurance to revoke a Star Trek fan’s ASIMIL8 plate after receiving a complaint that it was offensive to Indigenous people.
Lanchberry ruled it was reasonable to take back Nick Troller’s plate, because the word is connected to the Indigenous experience and government policies of forced assimilation.
Grabher declined to comment Friday when contacted by The Canadian Press, but his lawyer said the court ruling would be reviewed before deciding on a possible appeal.
“I think that there are a number of problematic aspects to it,” said Jay Cameron of the Calgary-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.
He pointed to part of the Manitoba ruling in which the judge found that in permitting limited expression on personalized plates, the regulator had authorized a new location where free expression is entitled to protection — a finding Jamieson noted and disagreed with in her ruling.
Cameron also noted that Jamieson “basically ignored” the fact that Grabher had been issued the plate for nearly 30 years without objections being raised.
“What is the rationale for giving a bureaucrat the authority to take away the expression of somebody’s last name, when for 27 years it hasn’t caused a problem before?” he asked.
http://torontosun.com/news/national...-not-infringed-when-grabher-plate-was-revoked