Pennsylvania State Police have agreed to stop issuing disorderly conduct citations to people who use profane language, the American Civil Liberties Union said.
The ACLU sued the police in May 2010 on behalf of a woman ticketed for yelling “asshole” at a motorcyclist who swerved close to her. The civil liberties group said such profanity is protected speech under the Constitution.
“Besides being a waste of police resources, these types of citations are often used by police to ‘punish’ people who argue with them.” Mary Catherine Roper, an attorney for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said in a statement…
Under the settlement, police officers will be told they can no longer ticket people who use profane words or gestures, even if they are directed at the officers.
Officers will receive mandatory training in free speech, and will be told that “obscene” does not mean profanity, indecent speech, or gestures, the ACLU said…
It said the Pennsylvania police issue about 750 citations for profanity a year.
The mandatory training about free speech will be a waste of taxpayer dollars.
Fuck yeah, faggot.
How rude!
To quote NWA, “Fuck da Police!”
“Dickhead”? You are under arrest.
If corrective freedom training is really a waste of dollars then I must be in Russia.
“a woman ticketed for yelling “asshole” at a motorcyclist who swerved close to her.”
Between that and drivers of (usually) German cars that don’t seem to know the meaning of the red octagon sign with the word “STOP” on it, and drivers on cell phones doing any number of scary or threatening moves, I wind up shouting a blue streak every time venture out of the house.
Geez, good thing they don’t do that in California..I’d be making license plates by now!
Heck, just yesterday I kicked the bumper of an Audi whose oblivious driver rolled through a stop sign making a right turn and nearly hitting me. The driver in this case was so oblivious that he didn’t even notice my kick. And I was wearing boots!
Darn. I was hoping to see automated machines, like in the movie Demolition Man, that would issue you a fine for swearing.
“You are fined one credit for a violation of the Verbal Morality Statute. “
Free speech sounds subversive to me.I bet its a terrorist plot.
The police can and will be dicks in some other fashion. It is their nature.
I’d say the citations are OK. There was a case in Michigan where its law was upheld in this regard, and an arrest of a guy who fell in the pond was upheld.
I say screw ’em all!
Why the Carolina Hurricanes logo? If I’m not mistaken, in the actual pic the boy is wearing a Feyenoord Rotterdam jersey. What gives?
The training would probably be a waste of tax dollars but if that prevents tickets for those offenses, it may be worth it!
Lyin’ Mike,
In the Michigan case the charge was reversed on appeal. There was something the appeal court found something called the “First Amendment” that over rode the obscenity charge.
http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentid=15992
But hey !!! Don’t let facts get in the way of your penchant for invention.