B.C. judge sentences man to 1 year in jail for contempt of court
'The courts of British Columbia are legitimate, or they are not.
There is no middle ground': judge
Apr 21, 2023 8:10
A provincial
court judge in Prince Rupert, B.C., has sentenced a 46-year-old man to a
year in jail for contempt of court, ruling he tried to circumvent the
justice system with "pseudo-legal'' and "stupid'' arguments.
Judge David Paterson
sentenced Cameron Hardy, in part to deter others from subjecting the court
to the theory known as "organized pseudo-legal commercial arguments.''
Paterson's ruling details
how Hardy, who was facing a charge of resisting or obstructing a peace
officer in 2021, considers himself a "freeman,'' meaning he won't accept
that courts have jurisdiction over him and falsely believes Canadian law
doesn't apply to him.
"The courts of British Columbia are legitimate, or they are not. There is no
middle ground. There are no shades of grey,'' Paterson's ruling says.
"Unfortunately for Hardy, the courts of British Columbia, including the
provincial court of British Columbia, are legitimate.''
Hardy, who represented himself in court, was charged with "contempt in the face
of the court'' for refusing to recognize the court's legitimacy or to follow the
court's orders and take part in the trial process.
Misinformation in the courtroom
In his reasons for sentence on the contempt charge, Paterson found Hardy
displayed "flagrant disregard'' for the court's directions and orders.
Paterson found Hardy's legal arguments could be harmful to the justice system by
turning routine matters into time-consuming exercises, and "his arguments were
not merely legally false but often just plain stupid.''
"Hardy's defence was vexatious and frivolous. He had no hope of success; thus,
logically, his only purpose was to frustrate the court and waste government
resources.''
Paterson ruled that Hardy intended to "harm or deceive the court'' with
"nonsensical'' legal theory.
"It seems that phraseology such as 'post-truth' and 'fake news' has become
increasingly prevalent in public discourse,'' Paterson's ruling says.
"As a court system, we need to recognize how the growing abundance of
misinformation influences people in the political, technological, and societal
context, including the courtroom.''
The ruling details how Hardy was first arrested in Prince Rupert in May 2021 and
charged with one count of resisting or wilfully obstructing peace officers in
the execution of their duty.
Days after his arrest, Hardy was released from custody under the condition that
he wasn't allowed within 10 metres of a Prince Rupert liquor store.
In later virtual court appearances, Hardy repeatedly challenged the court's
jurisdiction over him, saying he was "not a person. I'm a man commonly called
Cameron Hardy.''
His first trial date was set for Sept. 3, 2021, but Hardy wasn't allowed in the
courthouse when he refused to wear a mask.
At the time, the judge asked him over the phone if he had a letter from a doctor
confirming he was unable to wear a mask for the short walk between the
courthouse entrance and the courtroom where the trial was scheduled.
"I don't need another man or woman's permission to breathe,'' Hardy replied.
"I have been breathing my entire life on my own.''
The court eventually issued a warrant for Hardy's arrest for not appearing in
court on the set trial date.
A waste of court time
Paterson's reasons for Hardy's sentence lays out a timeline for several court
dates derailed by his "pseudo-legal arguments.''
Paterson made a ruling disallowing Hardy to file documents or make any
pseudo-legal arguments at trial, telling him they wasted the court's time and
taxpayers' money and had no chance of succeeding.
"My ruling made no difference to Hardy,'' Paterson's ruling says.
He seemed more interested in doing what he could to stop the trial from
proceeding and putting on a show for his numerous acquaintances, the judge says.
The judge says he didn't order a psychiatric assessment because he found Hardy
to be intelligent but an "anti-government ideologist.''
While the judges comments are correct, it also shows a lack of empathy for the
delusional ideas that the public are encouraged to adopt which can be classified
as "denial" where the 'freeman' ideas are used as a
"justification" or "rationalization' for delusional escape mechanisms.
Judicial "legal reasoning" in Canada is about as horribly flawed as the
Freeman where Judges do exactly the same error, they engage in "denial" and
fabricate politically correct decisions
based on gender.
Across Canada fathers have next to no legal rights in family court.
Judges engage in "reaction formation" where they fabricate false narratives as
part of the illegal process of "justification".
Yes, Fake news is fake news, Fabrication
of a narrative by a judge is the criminal offense of obstruction of
justice but you won't see a single judge put in jail for a year as a result.
Cameron Hardy is a delusional believer
of what he was shown by a cult of bat-crazy "free-man" and many of them are also
anti-government , anti-authority, macho, with delusions of invincibility,
invulnerability not to mention complacency when it comes to anything to deal
with authorities.
The worst example of Cameron Hardy's dysfunction was his refusal to wear a mask
and failing to attend court on the set trial date.
Perhaps the greatest judicial error was the judge refusing to order a
psychiatric assessment.
Wait for it, the judge "found Cameron Hardy to be intelligent but an
"anti-government ideologist" which really means a person suffering from
delusions.
This judge demonstrated denial, he saw what he wanted to see , an
"anti-government ideologist" rather than a mentally ill frequent flyer of the
court room.
Now, we can see that Cameron Hardy represented himself and in Canada there are
NO Public Defenders.
There are also no safeguards to ensure that accused persons are properly
represented.
A public defender might have been able to talk some sense into Cameron
Hardy, but this article fails to tell us anything that is related to the key
part of this story, that he was an unrepresented litigant in a criminal matter.
Everyone should read the 1963 case of Gideo v. Wainwright that brought about the
USA public defender system and the right to legal representation, that does not
exist in Canada.