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barbara hudson (6443)
Journal of barbara hudson (6443)
Today the Supreme Court of Canada ordered both the cop and his employer to each pay $10,000 to a woman who received a ticket for ignoring an escalator sign saying to hold onto the handrail in a subway escalator.
Montreal
Supreme Court awards $20K to woman fined for refusing to hold escalator handrail.Court orders transit authority, police officer to each pay half of the cost
The Supreme Court of Canada has ordered that a woman who was arrested for refusing to hold an escalator handrail in a Metro station in Laval, Que., be awarded $20,000 in damages.
Bela Kosoian was at the Montmorency Metro station in 2009 when a police officer told her to respect a pictogram with the instruction "Hold the handrail."
The situation grew tense when she refused to comply and declined to identify herself when asked.
She was arrested, detained for 30 minutes and finally let go with two tickets: one for $100 for disobeying a pictogram and a $320 fine for obstructing the work of an inspector.
She was acquitted of the two infractions in Montreal municipal court in 2012 and subsequently filed a $45,000 lawsuit against Montreal's transit authority, the City of Laval and one of the officers, Fabio Camacho.
Her suit was rejected by Quebec court in 2015 and by the Quebec Court of Appeal in 2017, which said Kosoian was the "author of her own misfortune."
The Supreme Court has ordered $20,000 be paid to Kosoian in damages. The Société de transport de Montréal, which operates the Metro, and Camacho will each be liable for half the amount.
The judges wrote in their decision that Kosoian was "entitled to refuse to obey an unlawful order and therefore committed no fault" in the case.
"A well‑informed person whose rights are infringed must be able to respond — within reason — without being held civilly liable," the court concluded.
Hopefully more people will understand that you do not have to obey them if you think they are infringing your rights - as they did to me two weeks ago ordering me to use a sidewalk covered in ice (see a previous journal entry).
This now becomes the law not just in Montreal and the surrounding area, but all of Canada.
Hopefully this will open the floodgates and cops will stop wasting time bullying people and start doing their jobs.
After all, if they can issue fines to change people's behaviour, we should do the same.
Considering the aggravating circumstances in my case, I think I should ask for "moah monnay".
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Friday November 29 2019, @06:46PM (1 child)
At least in frivolous [the law, not the case] matters like this.
Best of luck in your case too. You also filed a countersuit too, right? Can you do it preemptively, or do you have to wait for a verdict?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Friday November 29 2019, @08:38PM
Thanks. I'm doing it the same way the woman in the story did. Win in court first. Then strike back.
I wouldn't be surprised if international sites pick it up - the beeb already has it [bbc.com]. So does msn [msn.com]. So do plenty of other sites when you search for "woman canada supreme court award $20,000".
I guess the idea of getting $20,000 off the cops for a stupid ticket has near-universal appeal.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday November 29 2019, @06:53PM (3 children)
Two journals on this topic: https://soylentnews.org/~Gaaark/journal/4787 [soylentnews.org]
Caused momentary confusion.
Given the interest, might as well submit it.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 29 2019, @08:12PM (1 child)
Is this story like on the top of the Canadian news cycle?
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Friday November 29 2019, @08:42PM
Search for "woman supreme court canada award $20,000". It's already gone global.
And with the number of bogus tickets Montreal police issue, there's going to be a bloodbath.
The union covers fines for its members, but if the public starts suing in anything like a decent percentage of bogus tickets, this will bankrupt them.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Friday November 29 2019, @08:30PM
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.