Ⓐnarcho Queer • Federal Court Rules Flipping Off Police Is...
Federal Court Rules Flipping Off Police Is Constitutional 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.”
Pop-upView Separately

Federal Court Rules Flipping Off Police Is Constitutional

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.”

Source: anarcho-queer

820 Notes/ Hide

  1. shouttheemptyyonder reblogged this from better-humans
  2. ragingegyptian reblogged this from elguerito
  3. scribblesnorton reblogged this from better-humans
  4. peaceloveandcats reblogged this from better-humans
  5. better-humans reblogged this from anarcho-queer
  6. wontbetelevised reblogged this from makeda-j
  7. snugglesfordean reblogged this from thegreatnessideserve
  8. pretty-boy-freakshow reblogged this from thegreatnessideserve
  9. thegreatnessideserve reblogged this from hamburgerjack
  10. canyoulivewithoutasoul reblogged this from isthisyourcustomdomain
  11. lessthanfourminusone reblogged this from isthisyourcustomdomain
  12. isthisyourcustomdomain reblogged this from manic-duchess
  13. falling-updown reblogged this from esa-puta
  14. screaming-towards-apotheosis reblogged this from brackishbitch
  15. brackishbitch reblogged this from bmoburns
  16. theluxuryaddict reblogged this from flavia-anna-louise-fontaine
  17. brozor reblogged this from nyx-alexandra
  18. nyx-alexandra reblogged this from american-radass
  19. dragoncharming reblogged this from queen-of-the-sluts
  20. turkofgallifrey reblogged this from ma-bster
  21. zacharycymry reblogged this from anarchydragons
  22. anarchydragons reblogged this from swamandsank
  23. swamandsank reblogged this from revolutionaryrainbows
  24. xo-kylin reblogged this from anarcho-queer
  25. dreammtongue reblogged this from tatrtotz and added:
    YES.
  26. tatrtotz reblogged this from truth-has-a-liberal-bias
  27. queeriesandmore reblogged this from bmoburns
  28. lazyducklings reblogged this from truth-has-a-liberal-bias
  29. faynefirestar reblogged this from phobetor
  30. manic-duchess reblogged this from you-want-to-be-god
  31. unfurling reblogged this from anarcho-queer
  32. somethinginthenews reblogged this from anarcho-queer