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News & ArtsThursday, September 2, 2010
News / Sex $67,000,000 (Canadian)
Posted by Dan Savage on Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 10:50 AM
That's how much the man who was hit on by his lawyer wants from his lawyer, his lawyer's wife, and their old law firm. The wife—Justice Lori Douglas—has "requested to be temporarily relieved of her duties." That's not enough for some:
Annalise Acorn, a law professor at the University of Alberta, said Judge Douglas should resign. "Everyone denounces Tiger Woods for having affairs. But all Tiger Woods has to do is hit a ball," Ms. Acorn said. "A judge has to make decisions about law and justice that affect people's lives in profound ways. To do so, they must command genuine authority and respect. This situation makes that impossible for Douglas."
Jack King, the husband who hit on his client allegedly on behalf of his wife, claims that his wife didn't know what he was up to, or that he'd posted her pictures to a public website, and that he only did it because he was depressed at the time (which explains everything). Jezebel buys it...
A sordid story from across the border has called into question notions of "judicial authority"... even when the judge was herself a victim... We're also wondering what's on the books about husbands defaming wives—if, that is, that's still their relationship. Whatever the outcome, the story's a deeply distressing one... and a good argument against digital boudoir photography. After all, you never know when someone might get "depressed."
...and I don't. I think it's likelier that King is claiming his wife had no knowledge of his actions in an attempt to clear and protect her than it is that King would post nude photos of his wife to a personals website and arrange mysterious lunch dates with black dudes because he was depressed. Some married women are kinky, Jezebel, not victims, and kinky married women have agency and rights. And the existence of a personal ad and some revealing photos shouldn't disqualify a woman—or a man—from serving as a judge.
1
Dang! That Professor Acorn wrote a book that includes a chapter called "Lovemaking is Justice-Making: The Idealization of Eros and the Eroticization of Justice".
http://books.google.com/books?id=xSYHcgg…
http://books.google.com/books?id=xSYHcgg…
4
Considering his complete lack of judgment and professionalism when sexually harassing his client, I find it very easy to believe that he did this shit without his wife's consent.
5
This is really sad. Reading the story on CBC's website, they have a quote from someone saying, "judges have to be held to a higher standard than everyone else," and I'm wondering, whose standard? Maybe a conservative, pro-life, anti-gay Christian standard? I can see that soliciting a client is just plain wrong, but I think she's being vilified for her kink, rather than her husband's questionable ethics. Sheesh, Canada, man up. I expect more from you.
6
At what point will adultery be re-criminalized and underage teenagers dating amongst themselves labelled pedophilia?
Seriously, this bullshit about your professionalism being in question because you are discovered to like sex is infuriating. 67 million seems a little steep for sexual harrasment, though of course harrasment is unacceptable (though at which point hitting on becomes harrasment seems unclear). However what the wife does or does not do in her spare time is her business and hers alone.
My instinct is also with Dan. A guy who would take the blame upon himself does not strike me as the kind of guy with so little regard for his spouse that he would post sexy pics of her without her consent.
Seriously, this bullshit about your professionalism being in question because you are discovered to like sex is infuriating. 67 million seems a little steep for sexual harrasment, though of course harrasment is unacceptable (though at which point hitting on becomes harrasment seems unclear). However what the wife does or does not do in her spare time is her business and hers alone.
My instinct is also with Dan. A guy who would take the blame upon himself does not strike me as the kind of guy with so little regard for his spouse that he would post sexy pics of her without her consent.
7
5 is right on.
If only judges were spayed and neutered. Or abstained like priests! Sex is such a naughty thing. poo-poo
If only judges were spayed and neutered. Or abstained like priests! Sex is such a naughty thing. poo-poo
8
@5 is correct. But judges are appointed in Canada. Federal judges by the Senate, from a pool of candidates from the province.
People like to whinge about it, but since Canadians have stronger privacy rights than we do, including on the Internet, it could be a very different result than what you'd see here when someone tries to build a mosque where a strip club was in a dense urban location.
People like to whinge about it, but since Canadians have stronger privacy rights than we do, including on the Internet, it could be a very different result than what you'd see here when someone tries to build a mosque where a strip club was in a dense urban location.
9
@8: Wait -- "than we do"? I thought you were Canadian, Will? Remember -- you said you were more Canadian than I was, and I'm 100% Canadian, born and raised. Were you lying?
10
I'm both. I can be whatever I feel like. I'm both more American and more Canadian than most people ever will be.
Trying to explain the differences between Canadian justice and American justice is difficult - one of my high school classmates wrote some of the textbooks on Canadian judicial standards, but she's in Dubai right now.
Trying to explain the differences between Canadian justice and American justice is difficult - one of my high school classmates wrote some of the textbooks on Canadian judicial standards, but she's in Dubai right now.
14
@10: "I'm both more American and more Canadian than most people ever will be."
And how do you measure that, Will? With a rectal thermometer?
And how do you measure that, Will? With a rectal thermometer?
15
I watched the sanctimonious CBC piece Dan linked to in his previous post, and I noticed that the alleged ad was written to the effect of "I am looking for someone to ENMESH my wife into this scene" (paraphrase, emphasis added). I don't remember the exact wording but I noticed the word "enmesh" because it's not a word you hear every day. Now it's possible that he posted this ad with her knowledge. Anything's possible, including that she might have posted it herself and he's covering for that. However, I have a hard time believing that he'd use this particular phrasing for a kink that she was already into.
16
@3 Real America? This is Canada we are talking about. And aren't you the racist, anyway? Shouldn't you be writing crap about how he's trying to win "The Ni**er Lottery" and signing your posts Ian Smith? C'mon, man! A little consistency here.
17
CBC should be apologizing for ruining the life of a judge who has done nothing wrong. They are being gossips, not journalists.
18
Did they kidnap him, force feed him viagra and 'make' him have sex wiith her like at gun piont?!? Even Nancy Reagan knows to just say no. $67,000,000. Pa-lease!
19
Actually, the more I think about it the more I'm sure that she didn't know what was going on. Winnipeg is a couple of hours drive north of the North Dakota-Canada border, a little bit on the cold side ;), and the number of black (or Mexican) people living there is a fairly good approximation of zero. (For contrast, I'm struck by how many black people I see when I visit *Seattle*.) So OK, if your kink is sex with black or Mexican people you're going to have to go somewhere else.
The CBC piece mentions that the ad was for men the couple might meet while they were on an upcoming vacation in Mexico. So let's think about this for a moment. You're looking to have kinky sex (the ad does mention "sub", I think referring to him hoping his wife would be sub but it wasn't quite clear) with strangers in a city in a foreign country where you know no one. You could pick Chicago, that's not far from Winnipeg and I hear there's a fair number of black people there. You could pick Toronto, which has a large black community and would actually be in your own country. Even better, as a couple of lawyers, if you met someone in Toronto you could easily afford to see them over weekends from time to time. San Francisco, New York: closer than Mexico and have a reputation for being liberal and relatively kinky-sex-friendly. But no, you pick Mexico, a place where you're probably not fluent in the language, which is known for gringos being kidnapped for ransom, where the overwhelmed police are possibly not going to regard gringos who got in trouble while looking for seedy sex as their single highest priority? (Heck, if it's the Sun you're after there are plenty of Caribbean islands with English-speaking black populations.)
Alternatively, let's say your wife knows nothing about your hopes for kink, but she knows you're kind of depressed and is suggesting a visit to warm Mexico might be the break you need. It might be hard to make a case for Chicago as a vacation destination without clueing her in.
In short, this is exactly the sort of thing a guy who was closeted about his kinks might do.
More...
The CBC piece mentions that the ad was for men the couple might meet while they were on an upcoming vacation in Mexico. So let's think about this for a moment. You're looking to have kinky sex (the ad does mention "sub", I think referring to him hoping his wife would be sub but it wasn't quite clear) with strangers in a city in a foreign country where you know no one. You could pick Chicago, that's not far from Winnipeg and I hear there's a fair number of black people there. You could pick Toronto, which has a large black community and would actually be in your own country. Even better, as a couple of lawyers, if you met someone in Toronto you could easily afford to see them over weekends from time to time. San Francisco, New York: closer than Mexico and have a reputation for being liberal and relatively kinky-sex-friendly. But no, you pick Mexico, a place where you're probably not fluent in the language, which is known for gringos being kidnapped for ransom, where the overwhelmed police are possibly not going to regard gringos who got in trouble while looking for seedy sex as their single highest priority? (Heck, if it's the Sun you're after there are plenty of Caribbean islands with English-speaking black populations.)
Alternatively, let's say your wife knows nothing about your hopes for kink, but she knows you're kind of depressed and is suggesting a visit to warm Mexico might be the break you need. It might be hard to make a case for Chicago as a vacation destination without clueing her in.
In short, this is exactly the sort of thing a guy who was closeted about his kinks might do.
20
I doubt it had anything to do with depression, but some guys do post profiles online including their wife/girlfriend's picture and info. My ex did this, so I should know. He posted a "couple's" profile on AdultFriendFinder.com with both of us on it, claiming we both wanted me to sleep with another man while he watched. I had no idea until a male friend of mine saw the profile and asked me about it. It's actually really common for guys to do this. So I wouldn't discount the husband's claim that his wife had no idea.
21
Whether she knew he posted them or not, I'd bet you dollars to donuts that she did not know he was propositioning clients. That's a big no-no for lawyers.
22
Re Knowledge: Read Chapman's affidavit,...http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/t…
If the affidavit is deemed accurate, there is no innocence on anyone's party. In fact, if it is accurate, I believe the questionable conduct rests on both Kink and Douglas because King was Chapman's Lawyer and Douglas knew the relationship and cloaked or not, their caught by their 'breaches.'
If the affidavit is deemed accurate, there is no innocence on anyone's party. In fact, if it is accurate, I believe the questionable conduct rests on both Kink and Douglas because King was Chapman's Lawyer and Douglas knew the relationship and cloaked or not, their caught by their 'breaches.'
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