XPost: alt.politics.usa.constitution, alt.law-enforcement, mi.news
XPost: sac.politics
Turns out, the right to give a police officer the finger is protected
by the Constitution, a federal appeals court ruled this week.
Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
wrote in his opinion Wednesday that �Fits of rudeness or lack of
gratitude may violate the Golden Rule. But that doesn't make them
illegal or for that matter punishable."
�Any reasonable officer would know that a citizen who raises her
middle finger engages in speech protected by the First Amendment,� he
wrote later.
According to the court documents, plaintiff Debra Cruise-Gulyas was
pulled over for speeding in Taylor, Mich. in 2017, but Officer Matthew
Wayne Minard wrote her a ticket for a non-moving violation, a lesser
offense.
Cruise-Gulyas still chose to give him the finger as she drove away, so
he pulled her over again, this time changing the ticket to a moving
violation.
However, the court determined Cruise-Gulyas did not break the law in
order for the second stop to be legitimate. She was �at most
exercising her free speech rights,� the court said.
By stopping her the second time, Minard also violated her Fourth
Amendment rights as well. The court determined the second stop was an �unreasonable seizure.�
Though Minard compared his case to a prosecutor taking back a plea
deal if a defendant behaved badly, the court did not agree, �because
these facts differ materially.�
�As alleged, the first stop had ended, a constitutionally significant
event, before the officer initiated the second, unjustified stop,� the
court added.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/constitution-protects-giving-the-finger-to-police-officers-court-rules
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