Posted on 03/18/2019 9:29:59 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
A Raised Middle Finger Is Protected Free Speech, Appeals Court Rules
By Jacey Fortin
March 18, 2019
A raised middle finger is a form of free speech, a court has ruled, allowing a lawsuit by a driver who made the vulgar gesture at a police officer.
The decision came from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit last week, but it started with a spirited exchange in June 2017, when a woman gave the middle-finger salute to a police officer who had just written her a ticket.
The woman, Debra L. Cruise-Gulyas, had been driving over the speed limit in Taylor, Mich. At first, there was a small mercy, according to the opinion written by Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton for a panel of three judges: The officer, Matthew W. Minard, wrote her a ticket for a non-moving violation, which is less serious than a typical speeding ticket.
Ms. Cruise-Gulyas was driving away when, apparently ungrateful for the reduction, she made an all-too-familiar gesture at Minard with her hand and without four of her fingers showing, the opinion added. That did not make Minard happy.
So he pulled her over again, the opinion said, and changed the ticket to reflect the more serious violation of speeding.
Those were two separate traffic stops a key point in this case. The judges found that the first stop was justified because Ms. Cruise-Gulyas had committed an infraction. But they added that any authority to seize her in connection with that infraction ended when the first stop concluded, meaning that the second stop, apparently in response to nothing more than a vulgar gesture, was not justified.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I guess the rest of won’t get reduced violations or warning tickets. Way to go lady. Here’s my finger!
Freepers from New Jersey knew this already.
Seriously? That’s your take-away from this?
....but if you put a miniature hijab
on the tip of that finger you could be shot
Raise your middle finger at a judge and see what happens.
I might have known. Giving the finger to a cop is allowed in NY. Wanna bet if you do that to a protected minority you’ll go right to jail?
I always thought that is how they said “hi!” in the dirty jersey..
Or just use the n-word instead. You’ll get the gas chamber.
He should have given her a broken finger in lieu of a ticket.
The Bird is free to use. Groovy.
But Heaven’s to Betsy if you wear a hat that reads “Make America Great Again”.
You’d be sent to the Gulag.
SOCTUS ruled this to be protected speech along time ago and yet the states and LEO still
bring charges.
That’s some logic you’re slinging around there!
“Flipping the bird” may be free speech, but it is pretty shabby speech too. “Inarticulate” is not merely a handicap of the tongue, it extends to body language as well, and relates back to poor organization of thought patterns.
it may be ‘protected speech’ but just try it and enjoy being harassed by police for well, forever- They have your license plate number name and address don’t forget- and will likely issue an APB to watch out for so and so- pull over the vehicle, make sure everything is legal- etc-
Why wouldn’t “the bird” be considered a “fighting word”?
“Fighting words are, as first defined by the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) in Chaplinsky v New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568 (1942), words which “by their very utterance, inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace. It has been well observed that such utterances are no essential part of any exposition of ideas, and are of such slight social value as a step to truth that any benefit that may be derived from them is clearly outweighed by the social interest in order and morality.”” (www.law.cornell.edu.)
“it may be protected speech but just try it and enjoy being harassed by police for well, forever- They have your license plate number name and address dont forget- and will likely issue an APB to watch out for so and so- pull over the vehicle, make sure everything is legal- etc-”
Yet the law is that this is protected speech therefore if the police don’t like it then they need to get another job instead of enforcing personal vendettas.
yeah good luck with getting them to agree with you
Then they’re just another armed gang and they need to be removed, don’t they?
Sorry, but if this is the law then either they stop breaking the law or get another job. There is no wiggle room in here just because they have badges and wear costumes.
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