There are proper places for political discussion.
Inside the courthouse is not one of them.
Walking into the upstairs courtroom at Estevan provincial court on Oct. 16, I saw something rather astonishing. I observed a poster just outside the courtroom door, red ink on white. Someone had taken it upon themselves to post a letter-sized poster saying, “Rally to Reverse the Cuts,” the event to take place Oct. 25 in Regina.
In small type across the top, it said, “As the Legislature resumes for the fall sitting, we must continue our fight against cuts, rollbacks, and Sask. Party waste, scandal, and mismanagement.”
Someone else I know saw a similar poster downstairs, near the wicket, on the main floor, the previous week. I’m not sure if it’s the same poster and was moved, or another copy.
Whoever took it upon themselves to tape such a poster inside the courthouse had grossly overstepped their bounds.
I was incensed, to put it mildly. Later that same day I just happened to be speaking to some people much higher up the legal food chain than I, a lowly reporter. They contacted someone higher up than that, and got a nearly immediate response. By the next morning, the poster was gone, I confirmed, and rightfully so.
It’s not just that our courts must be totally impartial, they must be seen to be totally impartial. What is a person, already with their lives in the hands of the state as they walk into the courtroom, supposed to think when they see such things just outside its door? Political posters, and there’s no question this was political, have absolutely no place within the courthouse. This could, quite conceivably, be considered contempt of court, and punishable as such. It absolutely brings the administration of justice into disrepute.
There are places to have such discourse. It’s fine to picket in front of the courthouse. But it is not fine to do so inside the courthouse.
What would the person(s) behind this poster say if the halls of the courthouse were plastered with posters supporting Scott Moe, Ken Cheveldayoff, Alanna Koch, Gord Wyant and Tina Beaudry-Mellor? After all, there is a Saskatchewan Party leadership campaign underway right now, and one of these five will be premier by the end of January. (I’ve spent the last three weeks tracking them down and have interviewed each one.) Wouldn’t it be justified to have political posters supporting them on the walls?
No, you say? Then how could a poster for the other side of the political spectrum be acceptable? It’s free speech isn’t it? Or is it only free speech if it’s on your side, whatever that side might be?
There are appropriate places for free speech. In every paper this column is carried, such discourse in encouraged in its pages; in stories, interviews, and letters to the editor. If one feels so inclined, they can take out a full page ad, and the paper would be happy to run that, too.
Political activism can be seen on billboards throughout the land. They’re routinely on the supper TV news. We hear it on radio stations.
The more technologically astute will use highly targeted social media marketing, focusing on very specific demographics to get their message out there, usually to the converted.
As I said above, people can even picket in front of the courthouse, or city hall, or the MLA’s office. They can get a permit for a parade and have a police escort.
But none of this belongs in the courthouse, even its halls and bulletin boards. The courts must be completely apolitical, at all times. An Ontario judge was recently suspended 30 days for briefly wearing a Donald Trump “Make America Great Again” hat within the courtroom, and for good reason. The judicial panel found the judge “violated the fundamental principle that the judiciary must remain above and removed from politics.”
I don’t know what, if any consequences, occurred from these posters. I hope no one lost their job, and they got away with a stern warning. I hope they booked time off work to attend the Oct. 25 rally in Regina. If so, good for them, because it shows they have the courage of their convictions.
Hopefully they will put their name to a letter to the editor, too.
Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at brian.zinchuk@sasktel.net.
