Posted on 12/14/2007 11:32:59 AM PST by RDTF
SCRANTON, Pa. — A woman who was cited for loudly cursing at her overflowing toilet — and then at a neighbor who told her to quiet down — has been acquitted on First Amendment grounds.
District Judge Terrence Gallagher dismissed the disorderly conduct charge against Dawn Herb, 33, ruling Thursday that she was within her rights when she let loose a string of profanities Oct. 11.
Although the language she used "may be considered by some to be offensive, vulgar and imprudent ... (it is) protected speech pursuant to the First Amendment," the judge wrote.
Herb was cited after Patrick Gilman, a police officer who lives near Herb, called authorities to complain.
At a hearing Monday, Gilman testified that he was at home, off duty, when his 12-year-old daughter ran in and said she had heard loud curses coming from a house down the street.
Gilman said he went outside, heard the bad language and yelled out to Herb to "watch your mouth." He said that she cursed at him instead. That's when Gilman called authorities.
In Pennsylvania, someone can be convicted of disorderly conduct for using obscene language in a way that causes "public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm."
But Barry Dyller, who represented Herb on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, said rulings over the past 20 years have established that "colorful language" isn't illegal. He praised the judge's ruling.
"He's exactly right ... in his reasoning," Dyller said. "And it's important that the public understands this."
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
he probably ticked her off by calling her pal
yep
They should fire the gestapo cop..what a jerk.....who the hell is he to tell people what they can say in their own home..an obvious member of the “thought police” squad...he should be fired, fined and have to pay all court costs for wasting everyone’s time..in fact...the homeowner should sue his sorry ass.
They should fire the gestapo cop..what a jerk.....who the hell is he to tell people what they can say in their own home..an obvious member of the “thought police” squad...he should be fired, fined and have to pay all court costs for wasting everyone’s time..in fact...the homeowner should sue his sorry ass.
Yes, basically. We don't prosecute non-threatening speech, no matter how nasty or rude. Even when cops hear it and don't like it. The police are not the arbiters of good taste, nor are they community censors.
He should be made to pay any cost incured by her just because he’s a cop any believes his sh*t does not smell.
In other words, if we take the facts as the court took them, playing old 2 Live Crew CDs on your stereo at full volume with an open window is probably protected speech.
How are you missing the fact that the whole reason this ever came up was because what she was saying was going beyond her home? What you've said here is no different from saying that a noise ordinance violates the right to listen to music in the home.
Seems like the community set the standard, not the cop. Can't enforce a law that never got passed.
This story isn’t about music, and I doubt you can tell me the decibel level of the woman’s cursing. This nosy cop came down the street to listen to the woman, then shouted into her house for her to “watch her language”. If he’d done that to me, I’d have had a few choice words for him myself.
Yes, the fact that I didn't have a decibel meter at that location at that moment destroys my argument completely. < /sarc> What the heck are you talking about? My point is that she's not getting hit for doing anything in her home, she's getting hit for doing something that intruded on public space. You know, like a guy playing his stereo full volume, or revving his car without a muffler late at night.
This nosy cop came down the street to listen to the woman, then shouted into her house for her to “watch her language”. If he’d done that to me, I’d have had a few choice words for him myself.
So, you think it's nosy when somebody is swearing in front of somebody else's kids and they tell them to stop? Is this what freedom is for conservatives now, the right to be an ass and not be criticized? Sounds like liberalism to me.
Maybe it wasn’t the toilet she was cursing??
Best Christmas movie EVER!
Best line in the whole flick, too. Classic!
With a few exceptions (so-called "fighting words") vulgarity IS protected speech. What this woman said falls under the First Amendment.
From http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/analysis.aspx?id=18508:
Almost 30 years later in 1971, the high court limited Chaplinsky in Cohen v. California by holding that an individual could not be held criminally liable for wearing a jacket into a courthouse that said "F*** the Draft". [my note - the jacket had the real F-word ] The Supreme Court distinguished the two by explaining that Cohen's action was a "simple public display" as opposed to a direct insult or intent to incite harm, as was the case in Chaplinsky.
Such a charmed life. Or, maybe you use an outhouse.
She was NOT swearing around his children unless his daughter went into her house. Besides, we have only his word for it. Like to put that daughter on the stand for some intensive interrogation. Bet she'd breakdown in a New York sec, tell us what her daddy was really up to.
BTW, if the man was something useful, like, say a plumber, this entire event would probably have come to a happier ending. A plumber would have used the tools of his trade to repair the toilet, rather than a policeman using his tools of arrest and intimidation.
Local governments have limits on their authority to regulate profanity (see post #97). The judge ruled correctly in this case.
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