This woman was pulled over for speeding. The officer wrote her for a lesser offense, most likely Impeding Traffic which carries no points but a fine. Its a break because insurance rates won't go up and driving record remains clean.

As a thank you for his efforts she flipped him off. Seeing that she didn't appreciate his effort he pulled her over and changed the ticket to a full speeding violation. The court ruled this was wrong and she was within her rights to flip him off.

Nice job court.... keep reinforcing a lack of respect for the law, LEO, and everyone else for that matter

https://www.clickondetroit.com...le-finger-to-officer

I'm sure had she flipped the judge off, he/she would have felt the same way. That it's her right to do so. Right?

You think it should be punishable to flip off a police officer or anyone else employed by the State?

Of course it's a constitutional right to flip off anyone a person pleases.

As the mayor of NYC in Ghostbusters said, "Being miserable and treating other people like dirt is every New Yorker's God-given right."

This is a sixth circuit ruling so it applies to Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Michigan.

The key point of this ruling is that the officer had already completed his original traffic stop and issued the ticket. As she is driving away, she flips him off. He was not allowed to initiate a second traffic stop just because she flipped him off.

Freedom of speech and expression is very broad.

There was an old Supreme Court case concerning someone with a F the Draft shirt on in a courthouse. Cohen v California in 1971. Worth a read.

Constitutional Right: sure.

Decent Human being? This incident lends one to believe "No."

Criticism of public officials is pretty much the MOST protected "First Amendment" speech activity.

Should've written her for improper signal instead. "Hey, I assumed she was signaling a turn..."

quote:

Originally posted by slabsides45:
I'm sure had she flipped the judge off, he/she would have felt the same way. That it's her right to do so. Right?

This actually makes an interesting point. We've all seen videos posted here where a Judge rules on a case, the defendant is unhappy and uses a gesture or verbiage to convey their displeasure. The Judge in those cases had no problem reversing their decision and tacking on extra jail time, sometimes including contempt of court charges.

So the officer on the street risking their life every day and putting up with incredible crap from the general public doesn't deserve the same respect as the Judge/Court?

What if Miss Hyphenated Last-Name went off on the officer in court, is that constitutionally protected?

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
So the officer on the street risking their life every day and putting up with incredible crap from the general public doesn't deserve the same respect as the Judge/Court?

If someone is unhappy with their nurse and flips him/her off, is the nurse justified in performing a procedure in an unusually painful manner? After all, it's in the performance of their duties and they should be respected, right?

quote:

Nice job court.... keep reinforcing a lack of respect for the law, LEO, and everyone else for that matter Roll Eyes

Hoo boy... Seriously?

As much as "we" protect the 2nd around here, I would have figured that "we" have the same amount of respect for the 1st as well.

In my book, anyone who needs a law to tell them to not behave this way, is trash.

Instead of changing the original ticket, the officer should have written her a second ticket for say, failure to merge safely. I think that second infraction would have negated the court's contention that he was done with the initial encounter and wasn't afforded the right to re-open that issue...post middle finger being exhibited.

But that's where we're at as a society now. Any encounter with LE, especially if the person being stopped is some sort of minority or protected class, can't end reasonably or responsibly.

quote:

Originally posted by slabsides45:
I'm sure had she flipped the judge off, he/she would have felt the same way. That it's her right to do so. Right?

If it happened in court during a trial he could definitely rule her in contempt. If it's on the steps of the courthouse after trial is over then, no, she broke no laws.

If it had happened during the stop there is probably some vague charge he could have tacked on. But this traffic stop was over and she didn't break any laws.

It doesn't bear reiterating that this lady is a piece of crap.

I contacted someone once for an alcohol violation. An unassociated bystander was jabbering about unconstitutional this and rights violation that, so I told him to take a hike or be arrested for interfering. When I finished my business and went to leave, I told the guy “see ya later” and he yelled “fuck you!”. I told him to kiss my ass and went on my way.

My boss laughed when I told him the story. He said the guy opened the door and invited it.

I cannot begin to remember how many times I got a one finger salute from a "citizen".
You want people to wave at you with ALL their fingers? Be a firefighter. Cop was out of line.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
So the officer on the street risking their life every day and putting up with incredible crap from the general public doesn't deserve the same respect as the Judge/Court?

If someone is unhappy with their nurse and flips him/her off, is the nurse justified in performing a procedure in an unusually painful manner? After all, it's in the performance of their duties and they should be respected, right?

Just remember a nurse has the ability to decide what size needle to use when starting an IV or giving an IM injection...

As I was heading home one day, I killed sparrow with my car. It smacked the grill, rolled up the hood, and somehow got caught on my windshield wiper arm. After running the wipers for a few seconds, it rolled up the windshield and went up and over my car into the air. Unfortunately, it hit the car behind me; a county sheriff! He immediately turned on his siren, and the red and blues. When I pulled over, he already had his citation book in hand as he approached my vehicle. I couldn't believe it when he said I'd be getting a ticket for flipping him the bird

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
In my book, anyone who needs a law to tell them to not behave this way, is trash.

Unfortunately this country is full of trash, and the pile is growing

Probably the correct decision.

But poor report writing/ordinance knowledge on the officers part.

At least here it is an ordinance not to stick hands, arms, feet, legs or any other part of the body outside the vehicle except for a turn signal or emergency situations.

Had he stopped her for that, and ticketed her, he would have won this case.

I have done so a few times when people just couldn't seem to obey laws.