Brickbat: Gimme an A
Police in London, Ontario, gave a group of University of Western Ontario cheerleaders a $140 ticket for creating a public nuisance after they performed an impromptu cheer while walking to the school's homecoming football game. The group had stopped to perform a cheer for fans waiting to get into the stadium, but cops quickly broke up the performance.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
Give me an F! Give me a Y! Give me a T! Give me a W!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! GO TEAM!
A spanking I could understand - but a ticket?
I bet they were gay.
Well, they were Canadian cops.
I bet they were hoping someone would resist so they could "handle" the cheerleaders....
you're not a Monty Python fan are you?
Freedom of Speech in Special Speech Boxes Only.
Which is the law in Canada, anyway, right?
The right of the people to speak with their unamplified voice in a public square of the government's choosing, shall not be infringed.
Unfortunately, that's the U.S., Canada doesn't even have that.
It's Canukistan, they don't actually have freedom of speech. I think their laws are backwards in that area (Not that we follow our laws all that well...)
I'm pretty sure they do have some form of it stated in law. It's a myth that most other countries don't nominally have "freedom of speech". Many do, legislatively or constitutionally. It's in Eastern European countries' constitutions (I checked Czech, Slovakian, Romanian constitutions some time back) and is even in the Russian constitution:
http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-03.htm
Chapter 2. Rights and Freedoms of Man and Citizen
See: Article 29
The problem is, everyone makes all sorts of exceptions
I don't recall the details but the last time I read the Canadian standard, my reaction was "that's not only crap protection, but it's backwards" I wish I knew the exact wording, but it seemed more like a right to not be offended than a right to freedom of speech when I'd read it.
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, ? 1: "1. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society." So you have the enumerated rights except insofar as you don't, as determined by a rather low standard.
Yeah, the "we didn't actually limit the government even theoretically here" clause.
AKA Lucy-Football Syndrome.
DON'T TALK SHIT ABOUT LUCY
I'm pretty sure they do have some form of it stated in law. It's a myth that most other countries don't nominally have "freedom of speech". Many do, legislatively or constitutionally.
Mmmm, most western nations have what's considered an 'implied' freedom of speech, but rarely anything explicit, and even the ones that do are riddled with 'public need' or other exceptions which essentially make them toothless.
Quick action saves the day!
Three male cheerleaders were tossing a female teammate into the air when police broke up the routine
Pubic nuisance!
Hmmmmmm....
Someone with a badge couldn't get a date with a cheer-hottie in high school, eh?
Kevrob
(Back, and better than ever!)
Maybe they mahouts have cheered in French. That way they would have been legally protected.
Mahouts = should
iPhone autocorrect is weird sometimes.
iPhone auto correct is like having John type everything for you!
Oh, snap!
It's about time they started applying terrible policies to regular folks and not just the unpopular ones.
Do they wear ice skates in Canadien football?
No, but the game does play a little faster than the USA version.
Unless the cheerleaders were supplying ear plugs, I have to agree with the public nuisance conclusion. Cheering is some obnoxious shit.
At the homecoming football game? Give me a break.
Those kids need to learn to step in line. Fun will not be tolerated.
while walking to the school
Can I come to your house and have an impromptu noise-making session on your sidewalk? I'll wear an age-inappropriate short skirt if that helps.
Depends on who owns the sidewalk.
I can stand on the edge of the street. Or on the bed of a pickup legally parked in front of your house.
Or I can get a giant megaphone on the roof of a car and drive around the block over and over.
This is all ok, since people are apparently allowed to make a ruckus wherever they want without regard for anyone effected by it.
If my house was right next to a sports stadium where people were waiting in line anyway, then YES YOU F&*$ING COULD!!
Asshat
Oh, so, as long as your property rights are already violated by the school nextdoor, it's allcools then. Got it.
What property right is it you think you have, exactly?
Agents of the state can come on to your property and shoot your dog (arrest you, size your house/car/land) because you looked at them cross-eyed, but yet you would like those same agents to enforce your "property rights" against overzealous cheerleaders engaging in school spirit for a couple minutes????
If you are a fan of security (or rather "property rights" theater)then yes, this makes perfect sense.
Way to choose your battles wisely.
Agents of the state can....
Talk about a tangent.
Yes, I would like those agents to properly enforce the laws on the books. Doing anything because I looked at them wrong doesn't qualify under that standard, so I fail to see the relevance.
I still don't know what property right it is you think you have.
"Doing anything because I looked at them wrong doesn't qualify under that standard, so I fail to see the relevance."
Reality vs. utopia is the relevance. You can't have a police state that enforces all laws (when their are tens of thousands when you include local, state, federal) on the books and not also have abuse, misconduct and the perpetuation of poor laws that foster the violation of all your "rights".
You can choose to tolerate small nuisances (like impromptu cheerleading - maybe just ask them to move along if it really bothers you!) and then enjoy the peace and security that comes with a small police force that is authorized (and directed) to focus on violent infringements on your person and property.
This is the reality of human nature/society. Hiring people to enforce more laws means they will enforce more laws and (eventually) propose new laws to enforce so they have job security.
"There are no solutions, only trade-offs" - Thomas Sowell
They performed for people waiting outside the stadium. I doubt the noise level inside vs right outside the stadium is that different.
Just get the fuck off pan fried's lawn and no one gets tazed...
Sorry. Didn't see the sign.
"Stay off my propertah"
Whatever, sportsfans will defend anything for their sport, so, fuck me and my preferences I guess.
Hooray for the majority!
preferences are not property rights.
Yesterday kids were bouncing a basketball in the street in front of my house. It was loud and a bit annoying.
But it was kids bouncing a basketball in my street during the daytime. I have no expectation of a property right against reasonable noise at a reasonable time of day.
If I didnt want the noise, I could have paid them to move down the street. Coase is dead, but I havent forgotten.
No. But High School cheerleaders can, ay.
You are a moron.
The group had stopped to perform a cheer for fans waiting to get into the stadium
"Police in London, Ontario, gave a group of University of Western Ontario cheerleaders a $140 ticket"
So did they each get a separate $140 ticket? Did the group as a whole get the ticket? Or, did just 1 member of the team get the ticket?
I thought that was the cost of getting into the game, and it was given as a tip... I must have read the wrong article.
The commenters are just as disgusted with the cop. One noted that had the cheerleaders been wearing burkas, there would have been no ticket. Another noted that if they had been dressed as Native Peoples, the cops would have ticketed motorists for trying to drive around them.
SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
*will you guys be quiet?*
*it's grandpa pan fried's nap time, and he's already cranky*
Every year on an autumn morning?right around now, in fact?the girls of St. Catharine's (spelled that way) parade down our street, chanting and ululating. I think they may turn left on Eastchester Rd. and continue to the church; maybe it's their saint's day. Anyway, I've never seen any indication this parade is permitted, although I've seen police escorting some saints' parades, never any official notice. I'm trying to remember whether they use the sidewalk or Astor Ave. itself.
I'm just amazed that cheerleading girls and Catholic schoolgirls dress in short skirts outdoors in even the coldest weather.
Savages
So John is a mahout.
Zing! That's a pretty quick one...for a Michigander.
I'm not very smart, but I can lift heavy things.
LIKE JOHN'S DATES!
Oh, snap...
You can't Oh Snap yourself...But I will do it for you this time:
OH SNAP!!!
I AM NOT BOUND BY YOUR SILLY RULES!
FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOM!!!!!!
*takes huge swig of Canadian Club bottle*