{"id":17157,"date":"2023-03-20T10:57:38","date_gmt":"2023-03-20T14:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=17157"},"modified":"2023-03-20T10:57:38","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T14:57:38","slug":"judge-rules-giving-the-middle-finger-is-a-god-given-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/03\/judge-rules-giving-the-middle-finger-is-a-god-given-right","title":{"rendered":"Judge Rules Giving the Middle Finger is a “God-Given Right”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Quebec judge recently ruled that Canadians have a \u201cGod-given\u201d right to give someone the middle finger after he acquitted a man who was accused of harassing and threatening his neighbor. Neall Epstein was arrested outside his home in Beaconsfield, a suburb of Montreal, charged with uttering death threats and criminal harassment.<\/p>\n

According to authorities, the target was Epstein\u2019s neighbor, Michael Naccache. The arrest was the final step in a series of disagreements between the two men over months. In his ruling, Judge Dennis Galiatsatos wrote that Epstein was not guilty and that it was \u201cdeplorable that the complaints have weaponized the criminal justice system in an attempt to exert revenge on an innocent man for some perceived slights that are, at best, trivial peeves.\u201d He continued, \u201cTo be abundantly clear, it is not a crime to give someone the finger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge Galiatsatos added, in an apparent reference to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: \u201cFlipping the proverbial bird is a God-given, Charter-enshrined right that belongs to every red-blooded Canadian. It may not be civil; it may not be polite; it may not be gentlemanly. Nevertheless, it does not trigger criminal liability.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to details from The Canadian Press<\/em>, Epstein, a schoolteacher with two daughters, was arrested after returning home from a long walk. Earlier that day, Epstein and Naccache argued outside Naccache\u2019s house. Naccache testified that he had been doing renovation work on his front staircase when Epstein walked by his house, said something and gave him the finger with both hands. Naccache, who said he had been wearing earplugs then, claimed that Epstein had made a \u201cthroat-slashing gesture\u201d and a \u201cpunching motion with his hand\u201d as if he were challenging him to a fight.<\/p>\n