Good News – Insulting Someone is no Longer an Arrestable Offence [UK]

The Catholic Herald (UK) ^ | 1/8/14 | Francis Phillips

[marshmallow]

After unjust incidents of police interfering with free speech, thank goodness common sense is to prevail

A small piece of good news for the New Year comes from the Christian Institute. They report that police officers are to be told they are no longer able to arrest people just because others might find their words or behaviour “insulting”, in new guidelines issued by the College of Policing.

Last year the Government, which had initially resisted reform of the law, agreed to remove the word “insulting” from section 5 of the Public Order Act after the amendment was voted in by the House of Lords in December 2012.

Thank goodness for common sense in the House of Lords. It is extraordinary that this little word “insulting” which can be interpreted according to the whims of those who feel “insulted”, has been allowed to have the arbitrary power it has wielded in recent years. As supporters of the reform have pointed out, the word was at risk of being misinterpreted and had led to many unjust incidents of police interfering with free speech. One person was arrested for saying “woof” to a dog, another for calling a police horse “gay”.

[ArtDodger]

Not so in the state of New York. One of the trademarks of true socialism is that everyone is guilty of something. It just remains to be seen if they are imprisoned or not.

[apillar]

It's about time. The stories coming out of the UK about arrests under the statute were becoming more ridiculous by the day. There was a recent story about a pub owner being arrested because he was simply playing the song “Kung-Fu Fighting” on the karaoke and a pedestrian passing by the bar (of Asian decent apparently) claimed to have been “insulted”.

[Standing Wolf]

Not so in the state of New York. One of the trademarks of true socialism is that everyone is guilty of something. It just remains to be seen if they are imprisoned or not.

Bread and water are expensive. The all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful state may choose to impose other forms of punishment upon the commoners to remind them of its greatness and their insignificance.