Cameron Hardy, a 46-year-old man, has been sentenced to one year in jail for contempt of court in Prince Rupert, B.C. Provincial court Judge David Paterson ruled that Hardy used “pseudo-legal” and “stupid” arguments to circumvent the justice system. The ruling also stated that Hardy, who considers himself a “freeman,” refused to accept the courts’ jurisdiction over him and falsely believed that Canadian law did not apply to him.
Hardy, who represented himself in court, was charged with “contempt in the face of the court” for refusing to recognize the court’s legitimacy or to follow the court’s orders and take part in the trial process. In his reasons for sentence on the contempt charge, Paterson found that Hardy displayed “flagrant disregard” for the court’s directions and orders.
Cases involving those using pseudo-law arguments have usually seen defendants punished monetarily, but Judge Paterson’s ruling showed “enough is enough” with the one-year jail sentence. Ottawa-based lawyer Richard Warman, who has written about pseudo-law in Canadian courts, said that the decision was “definitely groundbreaking” and a “real wake-up call to those who are involved in the (organized pseudo-legal commercial argument) movements.”
Paterson ruled that Hardy’s legal arguments could be harmful to the justice system by turning routine matters into time-consuming exercises and “his arguments were not merely legally false but often just plain stupid.” The ruling also detailed how Hardy’s defense was “vexatious and frivolous” and he had “no hope of success; thus, logically, his only purpose was to frustrate the court and waste government resources.”
Hardy’s first trial date was set for Sept. 3, 2021, but he wasn’t allowed in the courthouse when he refused to wear a mask. At the time, the judge asked him over the phone if he had a letter from a doctor confirming he was unable to wear a mask for the short walk between the courthouse entrance and the courtroom where the trial was scheduled. “I don’t need another man or woman’s permission to breathe,” Hardy replied. “I have been breathing my entire life on my own.”
Paterson’s reasons for Hardy’s sentence lays out a timeline for several court dates derailed by his “pseudo-legal arguments.” Paterson made a ruling disallowing Hardy to file documents or make any pseudo-legal arguments at trial, telling him they wasted the court’s time and taxpayers’ money and had no chance of succeeding. The judge says he didn’t order a psychiatric assessment because he found Hardy to be intelligent, but an “anti-government ideologist.”