The First Amendment offers us the freedom of speech. Many courts in the US have concluded that saying "F&^% You" and using ones finger to express frustration or discontent is covered under the first amendment, such as in Cornelius v. Brubaker or Gulliford v. Pierce County. The City of Olathe has also agreed to perform additional training in an effort to educate their officers better regarding first amendment rights. This is not the first time in the US that someone has sued their city over flipping off a cop as a man in Pittsburgh sued and won $50,000.00 back in November. There are many, many others out there but they have the same thing in common. The tickets were dropped and they won their lawsuit for infringement of their first amendment right. I was always to scared to do something like that when I was growing up and I truly respect the law at my old age. But this brings up another important topic, police overstepping their boundaries. The instance that comes to mind lately is the brutal beating of a Maryland student. The police filed a false report as they didn't know that the attack was caught on camera. I am sure that the student will end up receiving millions and a few of the officers involved will lose their jobs. But are the violations of rights because officers are working longer hours and being stretched thin due to workforce reductions and the economy?
As I stated above, I agree that the Olathe police officer violated his rights. The city was lucky to walk out of it for that small amount and the victory just adds another one to the ACLU chalkboard. With the economy tanking and people losing their homes and jobs, this proves that they at least get to keep the freedoms awarded from the Bill of Rights. These types of lawsuits could be avoided by cities doing a better job of training their officers on what types of gestures or sayings are unlawful and warrant tickets and/or prosecution. But moving forward, this action is not something I plan on trying out anytime soon.
I really believe there are 2 types of cops. The one's who go through the academy to get out there and help their fellow man, and those who go through because they were once the school bully, and now want the authority to be a prick. I also believe people should have enough restraint not to cuss out his fellow man. The cops on the other hand have gone through training to keep their cool under these situations, and should have known there is nothing illegal about flipping a person off-however immature.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I agree with tarhtt. That was immature. But they are trained to deal with all the immature people out there. It is their job. What gets me is that this wasted tax payers money over a middle finger salute.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with the last two comments, and I agree with the fact of freedom of speech. I feel that cops have too much power or at least they think they do. Even though it is immature I should have the right to tell a cop or the presedent of the United States or who ever what I think. Isn't that why we came to this new world to be free.
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