You can flip off a cop and file a lawsuit, or flip off a cop and lure him to his doom on the Dragon
Flipping Off Police Officers Constitutional, Federal Court Affirms
WASHINGTON -- A police officer can't pull you over and arrest you just because you gave him the finger, a federal appeals court declared Thursday.
In a 14-page opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled that the "ancient gesture of insult is not the basis for a reasonable suspicion of a traffic violation or impending criminal activity."
John Swartz and his wife Judy Mayton-Swartz had sued two police officers who arrested Swartz in May 2006 after he flipped off an officer who was using a radar device at an intersection in St. Johnsville, N.Y. Swartz was later charged with a violation of New York's disorderly conduct statute, but the charges were dismissed on speedy trial grounds.
A federal judge in the Northern District of New York granted summary judgement to the officers in July 2011, but the Court of Appeals on Thursday erased that decision and ordered the lower court to take up the case again.
Richard Insogna, the officer who stopped Swartz and his wife when they arrived at their destination, claimed he pulled the couple over because he believed Swartz was "trying to get my attention for some reason." The appeals court didn't buy that explanation, ruling that the "nearly universal recognition that this gesture is an insult deprives such an interpretation of reasonableness."
FULL TEXT OPINION - UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT, John Swartz, Judy Mayton-Swartz v. Richard Insogna, Kevin Collins, Docket No. 11-2846-cv, Decided: January 3, 2013
69 Comments
Finally we can do something, small though it may be, to counter the spreading phash ism.
Cops get paid way too much for what they do, the local sheriffs where I live are paid 300 percent of the national individual median average wage. In addition to getting a whopping three times more than the average Joe they harrass and bother, they have platinum benefits. All paid for by the taxpayer, in the service of enforcing inequality and laws increasingly benefitting the oppression of the ruling One Percenters. Cops jobs are not even in the top ten of the most dangerous jobs, and they choose to accept the dangers inherent with their work.
it's a good ruling but i still wouldn't recommend doing it since the cop will use his "BlueCode" buddies to get back at you. Only difference between cops and gangs are the uniforms
Cops are the worst criminals. You love criminality? This is the second post I noticed that appears to come from one of the 6 people in the US who've never been wrongly accused by a cop who doesn't care whether he's right or not. Keep the faith. They'll get you sooner or later, and you'll be shocked. Repeat after me: I can't believe they would purposely lie. You'll be saying it soon.
I have in my own lifetime and personal experienced actually witnessed at least five police officers lie under color of authority, two falsified a police report and three lied in front of a judge regarding a traffic violation they trumped up against me. (My lawyer succeeded in using their own conflicting lies to exonerate me!) Anyone who defends law enforcement today is really willfully blind to their criminal actions.
Funny, because I was arrested for that in 1984. A bit different then the story above. I had already been harassed by the same officer a few hours earlier. He was a real piece of work. He actually called in reinforcements. Within 10 minutes, not less than six cars had arrived, including state police and DEA. The DEA guy was also a payload. I eventually told him he could leave his weapon with his colleague if he wanted to boogie. I was released after 5~minutes behind bars, after the Sherriff's department realized that one of the charges was NOT GROUNDS TO ARREST ON. Simple as that. All charges then were dropped. I was told I had a good civil case but never pursued it. Anyway, I am now good friends with a few police but they are decent people. My closest police buddy is a chief and is the closest thing that exists to 'Andy of Mayberry'. Which brings me to primary the reason why I wrote this post. He (the chief) has been victimized by his own officers. He is too strait for them and they prefer to jack around. Since he is also a kind-heart, he lets them get away with it and that only emboldens them. A group of officers signed false a complaint against the chief and when he beat the charges, two apologized. A couple of months later, the same two did it AGAIN. Moral of story: This country is going down the toilet~~PLENTY.
When I was a law enforcement officer I can say that I never saw anyone flip me off. Maybe because I treated them with respect and tried not to give them a reason to act or display themselves in a foul manner. Sad to say that there are many officers that don't deserve the respect that their badge promotes. " Protect and serve" to some means nothing. I respect them for what they have to go through but also believe they should not mar the authority given to them.
So the court ruled the cop lied under oath, correct? And in an official capacity? I suppose he gets a pass for perjury. We need a national three-strikes law for police: falsify an arrest report, attack a suspect without cause, violate the public trust in any way, go directly to jail, be banned from law enforcement for life, and lose the right to bear arms. Really sould be a one-strike law, but hey. But I'm glad to see a court show some sense for a change.
Whaddaya call 800,000 cops at the bottom of the sea? Freedom.
So if it's Constitutional with the police, it's surely Constitutional to give the sign to a member of Congress. After all, all 535 of them have given us the finger for years....
You hit that out of the park, however your wrong about them giving us the finger, they insert the finger, its also called rape in some circles
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Wow, we can now starting Flipping Obama the bird and get away with it. This is going to be great
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