Posted on 03/29/2006 8:51:17 PM PST by peggybac
It was 9:30 on a recent Friday night when Denise Grier saw blue lights in her rearview mirror.
She pulled over on Chamblee-Tucker Road, unaware of her infraction.
"The officer asked if I knew I had a lewd decal on my car and I thought, 'Oh gosh, what did my kids put on my car?' "
As it turns out, the decal was an anti-Bush bumper sticker Grier slapped on her 2001 Chrysler Sebring last summer. The bumper sticker — "I'm Tired Of All The BUSH—" — contains an expletive.
The officer "said DeKalb had an ordinance about lewd decals and wrote me a ticket" for $100, said Grier, an oncology nurse at Emory University Hospital who lives in Athens.
Grier said she thanked the officer — and vowed to see him in court.
"This is all about free speech," Grier said in a telephone interview Monday. "The officer pulled me over because he didn't agree with my politics. That's what this is about, not whether I support Bush, not because of the war in Iraq, but about my right to free speech."
Officer Herschel Grangent Jr., a spokesman for the DeKalb County Police Department, confirmed the incident Monday but said he couldn't "speculate on or discuss another officer's decision to write a citation."
Grangent said he not know of any ordinance dealing strictly with bumper stickers but noted the county's sign ordinance prohibits public displays that "contain words, pictures, or statements which are obscene."
"Only that officer knows what his or her probable cause was, and only that officer can discuss it or testify to it," Grangent said.
The officer's name is not legible on a copy of the ticket Grier e-mailed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Grangent said he didn't know who it was.
Grangent said he wasn't sure how many people have been ticketed for lewd bumper stickers but considered it a rare occurrence.
Grier, 47, the mother of four grown sons, is due in Recorder's Court on April 18. She has not removed the bumper sticker in question, or six other mostly politically oriented decals on her car. "I used to think that one person could not make a difference," said Grier. "Now I'm beginning to think one person can, and should. We shouldn't be afraid to stand up for what we believe in."
Scenario one: A 2 year old sees the sticker, has no idea what it means, continues to play with a ball of lint.
Scenario two: A 4 year old sees the sticker, has no idea what it means, pulls his sister's pigtail.
Scenario three: A 6 year old sees the sticker, says to his mom "What's that say?" and his mom says "Who wants pizza tonight?" and the kid promptly forgets about the sticker.
I have no opinion one way or the other regarding people who look for reasons to be offended. But your scenarios are a hoot. Funny as H-E-double-toothtpicks.
Thanks, glad at least one person has a sense of humor in here :)
Chad
(Boy of Destiny)
Welcome to the 21st century -- if you ain't outraged then you must be a victim.
I'm saving my "I love country music" sticker for when Hillary! runs.
There's sort of a difference between us saying "HOORAY YOU'RE FREE IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN" and them actually being free.
Sort of like how there might be a miniscule difference between our president saying "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed" and what is actually the truth.
As soon as people can order a cup of coffee in Iraq without having to worry about their waiter accidentally blowing up on the way to the table... then I think we can all say "Sweet! we did it!" Until then, the whole 25 million / 20 million statistic is sort of equivalent to me saying "Oh my God, six billion people just decided to live in peace and harmony!"
Sure, it might happen eventually. But not likely anytime soon.
The first bumper sticker was great though. Reminded me of this:
http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=78&p=2
Chad
(Boy of Destiny)
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cop is an idiot
You are right.
The left knows no level of class, and Grier is a perfect example of this.
"I am an 47-year-old female, mostly conservative person, ..."
http://flagpole.com/articles.php?fp=Letters&ISSUE=2006-03-22
Letters
From You
Bumpersticker Trouble
Wow! I was driving in Atlanta (DeKalb County) and I got pulled over by the police. Imagine my utter surprise when the cop told me I had a “lewd decal” on my bumper! Those darn kids of mine… must have put something terrible on my car. I am an 47-year-old female, mostly conservative person, so it could not possibly be one of MY bumper stickers that caused the police to pull me over… how wrong was I! The police told me that my anti-Bush sticker that reads “I am tired of all the Bushit” was lewd according to DeKalb standards; he then proceeded to give me a lecture. My kids would have been so proud of me. I told the police officer in my most motherly voice that if he was going to give me a ticket to do so, but I did not want to discuss my politics with him and that I would see him in court. So there we are. I go to court in DeKalb County on Apr. 18 and have written up some petitions that my children will help me to get signed. I am amazed that the police officer did this. There are four or five stickers on my vehicle and other than the Blue Sky sticker, all are political in nature and all anti-Bush. I have done my research and the police haven’t met the Miller test for obscenity as defined by the Supreme Court, so this should be interesting. I am of the belief that I was ticketed for my political beliefs and not any sense that I was offending the public with my lewd decal. Be outraged… it seems this is happening all over the country. Bush is out to abolish our civil rights… one at a time.
Denise Grier
Athens
http://www.sploid.com/news/2006/03/woman_ticketed.php
What had caught the officer's eye though was a bumper sticker that read "I'm tired of all the BUSHIT." Other stickers on her car included a crossed-out "W" and "Hillary 2008."
title should be (obscene) not (anti-bush)
But that same woman you can bet would not go along with a Prolife sticker especially if it says anything about a woman killing her own child. You can bet this ame woman would be outraged!
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