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.”
I did and I remember it every time there's a donation drive.
Man talks dirty to a woman its 3-5 years.
Woman talks dirty to a man its $6.95 a Min.
BigMack
According to the article, the officer used profanity himself. Sounds like he should get whatever the woman with the overflowing toilet gets.
Obviously, the complaining party has never had to fix any kind of plumbing problem on his own.
Plumbing can make you utter words you didn’t even know there were in a language that doesn’t exist!
LOLOLOLOL
When deciding what decision to make often we make a list of pros and cons.
The cons in your post seem to be that YOU are occasionally offended by some actions of other “free” American citizens. You seem to be offended because some free citizens use profanity, play loud music in their cars , or wear something you don’t like. By the way those things don’t offend me as I am not uptight, don’t care what others do, and usually just ignore those things as I am thinking about my own problems. So you want to give evil,incompetent, government burocrats immense powers to crack down on citizens including you and your family because you get offended by some one else’s behavior. So just one of the cons is that the whole country gets turned into a police state so that you couldn’t possibly be offended.
The thing is these government burocrats will take those new powers and crack down on people when and how they want to not how you want them to or to keep you from being offended.
Those things offend you but different things offend other people. So if we give the government power to crack down on people for every possible thing that could offend someone then we would have a police state.
Turning the whole country into a police state because you are offended seems to be extreme, the wrong thing to do, against freedom and will turn the U.S.A on the road to being the Soviet Union.
Just like i don’t have a right to tell you how to live your life , you don’t have a right to tell me how to live mine. you don’t have a right to not be offended. The Only laws on the books should be those that protect rights like the right to life, right to free speech, to own property, protect your life, protect you from PHYSICAL harm, protect you from force , and protect your property and patents.
Folks who curse around children should get a fist in the mouth. But since they may have various diseases, jail is a viable option.
Fracklestif!!!! Puctankee!!! Kruztachy! Grivbek!!! Zegin! These don't exist?
People hate freedom.
: )
Backing the arrest of someone for cursing in their own home makes it clear that you are an absolute idiot.
As well you should. This is the free market at work...if people think it is worthwhile, they donate. If not, they don’t and simply freeload on the benefits.
If Jim Robinson cannot make enough money to keep it going, then the market will dictate he needs to change his approach.
So far it works okay (I assume) and freeloaders are a colorful and useful part of the background, and they are part of the cost of doing a successful business.
So, what did she say? “What is this sh*t doing on the floor”?
Well, only if you believe HER story. He doesn’t admit in the article to saying anything untoward.
Well, only if you believe HER story. He doesn’t admit in the article to saying anything untoward.
Last Saturday I was playing in a golf tournament. On the 9th fairway, there was a house with all the windows open, and a group of college football fans enthusiastically cheering for their team from inside. There's nothing like standing over a golf ball, facing a 230-yard shot over water, while listening to a bunch of drunks yelling, "CATCH the F------ BALL! OH D----it! You stupid piece of S---!"
Being a rabid football fan myself, it was more amusing than annoying.
RE: #73
That thar constitutes offensive discourse and is prohibited behavior in accordance with local statutes protecting pretentious snobs that are easily offended.
You should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of all applicable laws.
particularly inside one's own home!
Good grief. They'd better get a lot more jails built. Half of America is going to be hauled in.
But seriously, I'd say this cop and his department fit the definition of
Note to self: hope they don't have extradition for swearing..
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