Posted on 12/19/2023 4:24:36 PM PST by nickcarraway
Police also wrongly cited him for "improper hand signal" after the man flipped them off.
Last year, Delaware police prevented 54-year-old Jonathan Guessford from holding a sign warning drivers about a speed trap and wrongfully cited him for "improper hand signal" after he flipped off the officers who seized and tore up his sign. Police have now agreed to pay Guessford $50,000 as part of a settlement reached in a lawsuit alleging that police violated his civil rights.
Following several run-ins with the police, Guessford decided to "stage protests whenever he saw police officers stopping unsuspected vehicles using a radar gun," according to legal documents. On March 11, 2022, his protest consisted of standing by the side of the road, holding a homemade sign reading, "Radar Ahead!" Guessford was soon confronted by several Delaware State Police officers, who took his sign and tore it up.
As Guessford drove away after the encounter, he flipped off the officers, leading them to eventually cite him for "improper hand signal" under a statute governing hand signals for nonmotorized vehicles like bicycles. However, body camera footage showed that officers knew that the citation was incongruous and would likely be dropped.
"Yeah, you can't do that. That'll get dropped," Officer Christopher Popp said during a phone call to another officer, who replied, referring to a third officer, "I told him that's going to get thrown out….Eventually, [Guessford is] going to do something really stupid, and then we are going to be able to really lock him up."
Guessford filed a lawsuit against the officers in February, alleging that they violated his First Amendment rights by destroying his sign and issuing an improper citation. Last week, the officers settled the lawsuit, agreeing to give Guessford a $50,000 payout.
The officer's "initiation of the traffic stop, and issuance of a bogus traffic ticket to Plaintiff Guessford, was an adverse action taken in retaliation for his exercise of constitutionally protected symbolic speech and expression," reads the lawsuit. "As a direct and proximate result of Defendants' violations of the First Amendment, Plaintiff Guessford has suffered irreparable harm, including the loss of his clearly established fundamental constitutional right to free speech and expression."
I'm sure that was his lawyer's idea. Whatever works to help get the $$$ award...
Hooray! One point for the good guys.
The phrase is, “You can beat the rap but you can’t beat the ride”[to jail]. I’m a judge and a prosecutor in different jurisdictions and this has always pissed me off.
Things like this should be paid out of the police pension fund.
Only took 10 posts before the bootlicker showed up.
Give them your DL, registration, and insurance papers.
Answer no questions.
Delaware cops - just as corrupt as the Biden Crime Family. Wish I had cleaned them up while I was helping to clean up the Delaware River/Marcus Hook-Clayton region on an FMC adjunct case.
And please don’t say I’m anti-police. My combat veteran son was a federal police officer for years and I worked with the FBI, DCPD, Baltimore PD, Military Intelligence, and NYPD before most of FR readers were born.
Ever have a serious death threat against you? I have, several times. Decent police officers saved my life as well as those of many others. We were all on the same side back then.
Maybe Commander will bite these officers?
they tore up his carboard sign, not broke into his house, big difference.. You’re posting like an idiot.
Only after they tell you why they stopped you. You’re under no obligation to identify yourself without cause.
I can’t see why it’s illegal to notify others of a speed trap...
until taxpayers demand offending officers pay back the fines they incur, the behavior will continue.
You can play that game if you want.
Cited him for “improper hand signal” after the man flipped them off.
He must have a Stupid and ignorant sticker on his car.
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