Police End Up Paying $4k To Guy They Gave Bogus Traffic Tickets To After He Flipped Them Off
from the still-not-recommended dept
It's probably not a good idea, in general, to give the middle finger to police officers you encounter in your everyday life. However, it's also not illegal. So a guy who did it twice, and each time was then pulled over and given questionable citations then sued them for violating his civil rights. The Clackamas County police department in Oregon has now agreed to pay him $4,000 to settle the lawsuit, claiming that it was just cheaper to settle than to fight. Perhaps they also realized that they were likely going to lose as well.
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And what exactly what would be the reasoning behind such a law? Respect for the color of authority or some other nebulous nonsense? I'm frequently amazed by the number of comments I see online from Europeans who openly mock the US tradition & constitutionality of our 1st amendment, as if its some anachronistic bit of uselessness. Its clear to me that such people don't "get it", and how blind acceptance of whatever authorities dictate is such a mistake. Yet this seems to be the norm over there.
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Do you believe that, if a police officer were to come and speak to you for some reason, you should be able to say "Go f*** yourself you pug-eyed sack of sh*t"? I mean it's freedom of speech, so why wouldn't you?
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Yes, and we do. Why shouldn't we be able to?
Of course, we also don't arrest and/or beat our photographers for taking photos of our police officers, and we don't keep the parents behind a fence while their children play on our playgrounds.
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to say that its only applied in cases that suite the government at the time is very wrong as more often than not its actually used against the government to limit the governments ability to stifle speech.
and because its written down in a fancy document, to us that means that its a legal principal that is pretty much a cornerstone of US politics. so yeah, it actually does mean something... quite a lot really...
Do i believe i should be able to say go F yourself to a cop? personally, yes. while i do not think that its very smart, i also do not think that it should be any more illegal than telling ANYONE to F-off...
so F off.
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It's certainly not the brightest thing you can do. From the sounds of it the reaction of the police wasn't all that bright either. I'm sure there was enough mechanically and otherwise wrong with this man's vehicle to give him a ticket or three. ONCE.
The U.S. First Amendment isn't entirely at issue here.
What is questionable is that a nation like Great Britain which claims to be at the forefront of democracy and liberty would ever make insulting a police officer illegal.
Now THAT's absolute bullocks!
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Yes, because the government 'of the time' hated the Pledge of Allegiance (WV v. Barnett) and our very own Congress (Reno v. ACLU), and loved Vietnam protesters, (Tinker v. Des Moines), the KKK (Brandenburg v. Ohio), and flag-burners (Texas v. Johnson). Also, the government 'of the time' openly loved the pornographer Larry Flynt and detested poor Baptist Jerry Falwell (Hustler Magazine v. Falwell).
Yeah, uh-huh. Right.
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Yea, and I have (not those exact words, but close) , what's your point?
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> come and speak to you for some reason, you should
> be able to say "Go f*** yourself you pug-eyed sack
> of sh*t"?
I'm a cop in America and that sort of thing happens all the time. If you can't take being called names, you have no business in law enforcement.
And no, just because someone says something like you wrote above, that doesn't mean I can arrest him/her absent any other evidence of actual criminal violation.
If I did, that person would have a helluva lawsuit against me for deprivation of civil rights under color of authority.
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Heil Politzi!
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Not that I discourage flipping off or disrespecting police in the UK or any nation, but even if that is the case it doesn't excuse officers from writing tickets for things the victim did not commit.
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Comes out of county funds, NOT cop's pocket.
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Re: Comes out of county funds, NOT cop's pocket.
Did I just stick up for the govt.?
*shudder*
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Re: Re: Comes out of county funds, NOT cop's pocket.
the important thing is just dont let it make you feel dirty when you have to...
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Re: Re: Comes out of county funds, NOT cop's pocket.
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Re: Comes out of county funds, NOT cop's pocket.
> after having taken an oath to defend us their
> employers
Actually, most police take an oath to defend the Constitution, not the people.
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Not quite right
Especially when the perpetrator isn't the one who has to pay.
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But said mocking will only continue - until the point it's no longer legal - and just give that time, soon enough it will be illegal to not only flip off a cop, but to flip-off a CEO or a Banker - that'll get you time too.
Just mark my words.
I think Orwell would be amazed at how bad it's getting now.
The thought police are out in full force. Only problem is - who watches those that are doing the watching?
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birds
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Pulling your own pet peave?
Just keeping it real.
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Re: Pulling your own pet peave?
Oh, well. I fail.
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Re: Pulling your own pet peave?
Trolling != "keeping it real"
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we pay their salaries. im not paying you to pull me over, I am not causing any conflicts. mission creep seems to have gone from protect and serve, to police and suppress. hell. they wont even look you in the eye and talk to you like a real person.
I know they are not all like that, I have a good friend who is a cop, and he is a good one. fixes problem when he is on duty, doesnt go out and create them. would look you in the eye and try to understand why you are him are talking if something did even come up when he was on duty. sadly he is a rare form.
so until cops start protecting and serving again.. I see nothing wrong with giving them a little reminder that they are not doing their actual job anymore..
,|,,>_
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A cop is just a guy with a gun, and that's why we do what they say.
Compare these two scenarios.
A cop pulls over your car, flips off the strap to his sidearm, stands outside of your car in a shooters stance and asks you to step out of the vehicle. 99% of people will step out of the vehicle without question weather they feel they deserve that sort of treatment or not.
A guy with a gun walks into a bank and asks everyone to give him their money. 99% of people will give up the money without hesitation.
See cops and robbers work on the same principle, compliance through brute force and superior firepower.
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If it were me, I'd just have him pull over, check his license, insurance, test for intoxication, that sort of thing. I'd be sure to jot down everything relevant about the guy; name, address, license plate number...
The real fun would come later. Revenge is a dish best served cold...
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Really!
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