LOL That’s nice to know.”
Anybody care to test this by walking up to the next cop they see and saying “F*** You.”
Well, here's what happened to a guy who tried giving a cop the finger... :-)
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.”
Not a ping.
A good attorney should be able to help her sue the cop and the city and to file civil rights criminal charges and civil complaints. That’s just for starters...
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In his memoirs, MLB umpire Ron Luciano mentioned that whenever a manager argued a call with him he would walk towards the stands because “profanity audible to spectators” is grounds for throwing them out of the game.
She should claim she has Tourette’s Syndrome, and sue her neighbor and the police department.
What would her friendly cop next door do if she was watching a DVD that was laced with profanities? Arrest her,the TV or the DVD?? This bozo cop thinks he has more rights as a citizen than you or me.
Me too. Plus...an overflowing toilet is CERTAIN to cause profanity to issue forth...how else are you supposed to warn everyone in the floors below???
Well, here's what happened to a guy who tried giving a cop the finger... :-)
Well, here's what happened to a guy who tried giving a cop the finger... :-)
If he truly didn't want to listen to it, instead of calling the police, why the heck didn't he go next door to HELP the woman!! An overflowing toilet is one of THE most annoying household problems, and it's one that needs to be solved RIGHT NOW to avoid further problems.
Many cops should indeed be jailed for mere stupidity and infringement on free speech.
The reason they act this way is that the current “administrator” mantra only does paper work and is author of nothing and has “author”ity over nothing. These people look for trouble and good looks and behaviors.
They are a hypocrite pathetic worthless bunch of taxpayer blood sucking leeches.
rofl!
“Between us, we’re up for a trillion *****n years.”
I guess the Toilet Lobby has gotten this town to believe that Toilet's have rights or something.
You should note that Free Speech is not absolute on FR unless your name happens to be Jim Robinson.
He owns it and runs it, we use it at his pleasure, and if he wants to boot us because he doesn’t like our grammar, he has the right to do so.
But you knew that.
And we know that you're not how?
Open to interpretation I guess. Opinions vary. Corporal punishment yes, violence no. Tarring and feathering is not a violent act. Filing a civil suit is not violent. Caning is a corporal punishment still in use today in Singapore.
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