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Judge: Woman Who Cursed Out Toilet Protected Under 1st Amendment
Fox news. com ^ | Dec 14, 2007 | AP

Posted on 12/14/2007 11:32:59 AM PST by RDTF

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To: muawiyah

he probably ticked her off by calling her pal


81 posted on 12/14/2007 1:54:45 PM PST by RDTF (Remember Pearl Harbor)
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To: Brilliant
It sounds like the off duty police officer was being a... well let's say he certainly took himself very seriously.
82 posted on 12/14/2007 1:58:24 PM PST by delacoert
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To: RDTF
You should’t laugh. I will continue to make a positive impact on those around me. Maybe you can teach those around you new curse words? Possibly drag those down around you a little bit more? I was in the Infantry, now I’m not, I can control myself. Even when I was in we didn’t curse in restaurants or stores or around kids. Have some respect.
83 posted on 12/14/2007 2:06:37 PM PST by vpintheak (Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked. Prov. 25:26)
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To: delacoert

yep


84 posted on 12/14/2007 2:15:41 PM PST by RDTF (Remember Pearl Harbor)
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To: All

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.


85 posted on 12/14/2007 2:36:17 PM PST by Alright_on_the_LeftCoast
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To: All

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.


86 posted on 12/14/2007 2:37:00 PM PST by Alright_on_the_LeftCoast
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To: Brilliant
I wonder why? So that we can all exercise our right to vent profanity without fear of prosecution?

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.

87 posted on 12/14/2007 2:42:32 PM PST by mountainbunny
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To: RDTF

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.


88 posted on 12/14/2007 2:57:57 PM PST by chiefqc
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To: jiggyboy
When my brother the ex-Air Force master sergeant is turning the air blue when he’s working on a car, I know he’s happy.
89 posted on 12/14/2007 3:34:43 PM PST by GAB-1955 (Kicking and Screaming into the Kingdom of Heaven.)
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To: muawiyah
I think you may be right, but let's stay focused here: The court didn't say "We overturn this because we doubt the cop told the truth," they overturned it because even if she did what she's accused of in the exact way she's accused of doing it, it somehow falls under protected speech.

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.

90 posted on 12/14/2007 5:45:33 PM PST by Mr. Silverback (Support Scouting: Raising boys to be strong men and politically incorrect at the same time.)
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To: Alright_on_the_LeftCoast
who the hell is he to tell people what they can say in their own home..

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.

91 posted on 12/14/2007 5:51:35 PM PST by Mr. Silverback (Support Scouting: Raising boys to be strong men and politically incorrect at the same time.)
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To: mountainbunny
The police are not the arbiters of good taste, nor are they community censors.

Seems like the community set the standard, not the cop. Can't enforce a law that never got passed.

92 posted on 12/14/2007 5:52:49 PM PST by Mr. Silverback (Support Scouting: Raising boys to be strong men and politically incorrect at the same time.)
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To: Mr. Silverback

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.


93 posted on 12/14/2007 5:53:12 PM PST by ozzymandus
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To: ozzymandus
This story isn’t about music, and I doubt you can tell me the decibel level of the woman’s cursing.

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.

94 posted on 12/14/2007 6:00:19 PM PST by Mr. Silverback (Support Scouting: Raising boys to be strong men and politically incorrect at the same time.)
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To: Slings and Arrows

Maybe it wasn’t the toilet she was cursing??


95 posted on 12/14/2007 6:08:00 PM PST by GOP_Raider (Don't panic, folks. Rush Babies Will Save America.)
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To: shbox

Best Christmas movie EVER!

Best line in the whole flick, too. Classic!


96 posted on 12/14/2007 6:23:32 PM PST by American_Centurion (No, I don't trust the government to automatically do the right thing.)
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To: Mr. Silverback
Vulgarity and obscenity don't fall within the First Amendment.

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.

97 posted on 12/14/2007 6:39:56 PM PST by Ken H
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To: vpintheak
Your toilet has never overflowed has it?

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.

98 posted on 12/14/2007 6:40:44 PM PST by muawiyah
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To: Ancesthntr
Oh, BTW, this guy Gilman clearly has a 2x4 stuck up his @$$.

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.

99 posted on 12/14/2007 6:44:45 PM PST by Bernard
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To: Nephi
The public use of profanity certainly can and should be regulated by LOCAL government if that is what the local population votes for.

Local governments have limits on their authority to regulate profanity (see post #97). The judge ruled correctly in this case.

100 posted on 12/14/2007 6:55:58 PM PST by Ken H
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