Posted on 10/16/2007 8:26:58 AM PDT by John Cena
A West Scranton woman could face up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $300 for allegedly shouting profanities at an overflowing toilet while inside her Luzerne Street home.
Dawn Herb, whose potty mouth caught the attention of an off-duty police officer, was charged with disorderly conduct recently, prompting her to fire off a letter to the editor and vow to fight the charge.
“It doesn’t make any sense. I was in my house. It’s not like I was outside or drunk,” said Ms. Herb, who resides at 924 Luzerne St. along with her four young children. “A cop can charge you with disorderly conduct for disrespecting them?”
The obscenities hit the fan when she battled her overflowing toilet around 8 p.m. Thursday, she said.
Although Ms. Herb doesn’t recall exactly what she said, she admitted that she was frustrated and let more than a few choice words fly. Unfortunately, it was near an open bathroom window.
“The toilet was overflowing and leaking down into the kitchen and I was yelling (for my daughter) to get the mop,” she said. “A guy is yelling, ‘Shut the f--- up,’ and I yelled back, ‘Mind your own business.’ ”
Her next-door neighbor, Patrick Gilman, a city police officer who was off-duty at the time, apparently had enough of Ms. Herb’s foul mouth and asked her to keep it down, police said. When Ms. Herb didn’t stop, he called the police.
Patrolman Gerald Tallo responded and charged Ms. Herb with disorderly conduct.
The citation accuses the defendant of using obscene language or gestures “with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm or recklessly (creating) a risk ...”
“There was no intent to do anything,” Ms. Herb said. “I just feel so violated and irritated ... I don’t even have a criminal record.”
Efforts to reach Patrolmen Gilman and Tallo were unsuccessful.
Scranton Public Safety Director Ray Hayes said if anyone feels they were unjustly accused, they can address it before a judge.
“At the end of the day, the opinion that counts is of the magisterial judge,” he said. “It may be something open to interpretation. The officer has his own and this person had the opposite opinion.”
The use of obscene language or gestures is an offense under the state criminal code. But cursing at a police officer isn’t a punishable offense, said Mary Catherine Roper, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union based in Philadelphia.
“It cannot be the basis for a citation. You can’t prosecute somebody for swearing at a cop or a toilet,” she said. “We bring one of these cases a year and sue some police departments because they do not remember that they are not the language police.”
~Speech, spelling and grammar police~, at your service in West Scranton.
F both of those cops.
Next time, she wont answer the door...
LOL That's nice to know.
She’s lucky the gestapo police didn’t shoot her.....or her dog....this scumbag should be kicked off the force...as should most of the scumbags sworn to “protect and serve”...
They do if Dwight K. Schrute, volunteer Lackawana County Sheriff's Deputy, is on patrol...
...and in her own home, to boot! Truth be known, there’s probably more to the story about exactly how well she gets along with her cop neighbor, who called one of his buddies in to confront her after she cussed the toilet. But still, this is just ridiculous and make Scranton’s police department look both petty and stupid.
Just wait 'til Director Hayes is on the receiving end of that one...I bet his tune changes real quick.
“...But cursing at a police officer isn’t a punishable offense...”
LOL That’s nice to know.”
Anybody care to test this by walking up to the next cop they see and saying “F*** You.”
Anti-Porcelain hate speech?........
If a neighbor, who just happens to be a police office, can arrest a person for using profanity in one's own home, even when one's window is opened, the police state is here!
What a poor use of the court’s time...
In this woman’s defense, the overflowing toilet was giving her crap prior to her outburst.
It happens in MI. foul language in front of a woman is a crime here.
In a country where one can get seven years in the slam for criticizing homos, not much makes sense anymore.
Complaints like this from ordinary citizens are--and probably should be--promptly ignored. But anything a fellow LEO wants, he usually gets.
Probably not a good idea. I've also determined that avoiding a speeding ticket by asking the cop: "What's the matter, is Dunkin Donuts closed?" is not a good idea, either.
Yeah, but was it a white or colored toilet?
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