[URBAN NOTE] "The legalistic arguments being made about Rob Ford"

[rfmcdonald]

The Grid's Edward Keenan dissects arguments made by some, notably the Toronto Sun's Joe Warmington, that Ford's personal life shouldn't be an issue of public scrutiny.

The people of Toronto—the voters—can legitimately ask a politician all kinds of things they have no legal right to know. For instance, what is his position on raising property taxes, or building subways? (He’s not under oath, he has no legal requirement to address these questions!) What sports team does he root for, and where did he go to school? (He is not obligated to discuss his personal life. His own time is his own business.) Is he fit to hold the job, especially since reports have arisen that seem to call that fitness into question? (Private property! Right to silence!)

Indeed, he has a legal right to remain as silent as he wants to be. And voters have the legal right to draw their own conclusions about what that silence says about him. Generally, the public wants to hear both sides of a story—freely offered, not compelled by subpoena—and then make up their mind. But when only one side of the story is offered, what are they to think?

Well, when that one side relies on HEARSAY evidence—I can hear the Law & Order fans who host talk-radio programs shouting—and there is no proof, then you can dismiss it, ’cause it’s hearsay. Jeff McArthur on AM640 loudly took a stab at this line of defence last Friday when the allegations first emerged.

Oy. A couple things. Certainly, in a court of law, second-hand information can be ruled out of order as hearsay.

But, first of all, in this case, what we are reading in the accounts on Gawker and in the Star are not second-hand accounts: It is eyewitness testimony from people who have seen the video. And they directly, in detail, describe what they saw in the video and the circumstances under which they viewed it. They talk about the conversations and negotiations they had with the people who showed them the video. That is not hearsay. That is direct evidence offered by eyewitnesses. And guess what? That is actually how a good deal of the reporting we rely on for most of our news is done!

Also, in the past Ford has actually said that the public has the right to know things.