Posted on 08/01/2012 9:51:27 AM PDT by presidio9
Italy's highest court ruled that telling a man he has "no balls" as an insult is a crime punishable with a fine because it hurts male pride in a ruling on a curious row between two cousins.
The case was brought to the supreme court by a lawyer named only as Vittorio against his cousin Alberto, a justice of the peace, for the phrase uttered during a heated courtroom exchange in the southern Italian city of Potenza.
"Apart from the vulgarity of the term used, the expression definitely also has an injurious quality," the male judge, Maurizio Fumo, said in his ruling as quoted by Italian news agency ANSA.
"It refers not only to the target's lack of virility but also to his weakness of character, lack of determination, competence and coherence -- virtues that, rightly or wrongly, are still identified as pertaining to the male gender."
The court also found that because the insult was uttered at the workplace with third parties present it could be seen as damaging Vittorio's reputation.
Vittorio's lawyer had argued that the expression implied that his client was "worth less than other men because he did not have the attributes."
A judge will now rule on the fine that
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Did someone in Italy “insult” our man-child pres_dent?
>>The case was brought to the supreme court by a lawyer named only as Vittorio against his cousin Alberto, a justice of the peace, for the phrase uttered during a heated courtroom exchange in the southern Italian city of Potenza.<<
Any man who brings a suit like this has no balls.
Little girly-man pansy can’t take an insult.
The Bard was right: “methinks the lady doth protest too much.”
The Judge has no balls.
What a Cordnuto.
Good grief.
SnakeDoc
I don’t see it as a crime.
They could be fighting words, however.
For the best rant on this subject, go to youtube & look up “Don Imus Godfather”. Rob Bartlett as Vito Corleone scalding Bill Clinton over Monicagate is hilarious.
In Naples it used to be that an even worse insult was to accuse a married man of NOT being man enough to attract & keep a mistress on the side.
The world, America included, is rushing to criminalize “offensive” speech. Offensive though is just behind.
When the common man becomes a criminal the government’s laws are oppressive.
When one aims to control behavioral thou the State as the left now does, every man must be made a criminal, less it be difficult to control him when he transgresses the will of the State.
That ruling is just nuts.
In Italy, one is either a “person of consequence” or not.
A man with no balls in Italy can only be a person of consequence as a tenor at the opera.
Heh!
“Apart from the vulgarity of the term used, the expression definitely also has an injurious quality,”
So we will just use the high class term “Castrato”. Or as we used to call the administration workers in the USAF, “Titless WAFs”.
shucks, i don’t think any of these democrat progressives have any balls at all.
i know that Palin has more than the whole rat party!
wonder how much i would be fined in italy for saying that.
blessings, bobo
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