A Calgary Herald editorial regarding the sexual misconduct accusations against a United States Supreme Court Justice nominee drew a firestorm of outrage on social media over the writer’s belief that actions from decades ago should not solely define a person’s current character.

Naomi Lakritz’s piece ‘Kavanaugh doesn’t deserve this. What happened in high school stays in high school’ was published Tuesday, February 26 in response to the allegations against 53-year-old Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s nominee for Supreme Court Justice, that were said to have occurred in the 1980s when Kavanaugh was a teenager or in his early 20s.

Kavanaugh denied the allegations that he sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford in 1982 during his testimony at the U.S. Senate hearing on Thursday. Five women, including Ford, have come forward since Kavanaugh’s nomination was announced with allegations against him that include sexual assault, indecent exposure and sexual misconduct.

Criticism of the Calgary journalist’s editorial erupted on social media immediately after the piece was published with many calling for the cancellation of Calgary Herald subscriptions or the pulling of advertising commitments. Calgary councillors Jyoti Gondek and Druh Farrell announced on their Twitter accounts that they would not be accepting interview requests from the Calgary Herald until Lakritz’s editorial is retracted and an apology issued.

I have reached out to my journalist contacts at @calgaryherald to see if the editorial board is interested in addressing my concerns. This is not because I am being self important. This is because we cannot accept any messaging from the free press that minimizes sexual assault. https://t.co/etaih5Abqf — Jyoti Gondek (@JyotiGondek) September 27, 2018

The @calgaryherald has some great writers but I can’t stand by while sexual assault is trivialized. I stand with my colleague @JyotiGondek in support of women. I won’t be taking interview requests until they retract and apologize. https://t.co/91CNrFZwwd — Druh Farrell (@DruhFarrell) September 27, 2018

Early Thursday afternoon, Lakritz issued the following statement to CTV Calgary, posted in its entirety, regarding the response to her piece.

“I am not on social media. However, if there is an uproar on social media then it would appear that Brett Kavanaugh has already been found guilty in the court of public opinion. I was not weighing in on whether he is guilty or not. I obviously don’t have any knowledge of that. What I’m saying is that whatever someone allegedly did as a 15-year-old should not count against him when he’s a man of 53, decades removed from the teenager he once was. Were we all perfect angels at 15? I doubt it. Would we want something we may have done at 15 to affect our lives as mature adults at 40 or 50? Obviously not.”

“As for councillors blocking interviews with the paper, those councillors are obviously sadly unaware of the principles of free speech.“

Lorne Motley, the Calgary Herald's editor-in-chief, addressed the controversy surrounding Lakritz's editorial in a statement to CTV Calgary.

"Freedom of speech is one of the most important principles of our society, and the columnist’s role at a newspaper is to express an opinion. We have heard loud and clear that people disagree with the Wednesday column from Naomi Lakritz," said Motley in his statement. "Her view is not the official position of the paper. That view was published in our Editorial today."

"The Editorial pages are designed to be a hub of community opinion and debate, and sometimes they involve unpopular views. Tomorrow we will be carrying views from others who also strongly disagree with the column, and why that viewpoint is wrong."