December 21 Toronto The new trial […]

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When

1981-12-21

Description

December 21 Toronto The new trial date for PTP / Body Politic was set for May 31, 1982. On that date the Body Politic and three officers of PTP (Gerald Hannon, Ed Jackson, and Ken Popert) went to trial a second time to face charges of using the mails to transmit immoral and indecent material. On June 3, 1982, Provincial Court Judge Thomas Mercer acquitted the publication's three officers, ruling that the appearance of their names in the masthead did not prove their personal involvement, and on June 15, 1982, acquitted PTP of the charges. Mercer ruled that "Men Loving Boys Loving Men" "does, in fact, advocate pedophilia" but would be tolerated by the Canadian community. The Ontario Attorney General's ministry appealed the June 15 decision on July 13, 1982, asking that the court substitute a conviction on the charge of mailing indecent, immoral, or scurrilous material. On September 15, 1983, Ontario County Court Judge Patricia German heard the Crown's appeal of the June 15, 1982, acquittal. She ruled that Judge Mercer had not erred in the law in dismissing the charges, and upheld the acquittal. The Crown did not appeal the case, and as the Body Politic concluded in its November 1983 issue, "After almost six years, two provincial court trials, three other separate court actions, six appeals, two trips to the Supreme Court of Canada, and more than $100,000 in legal bills, it was finally over."