A Clackamas County man filed a federal lawsuit against the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office for malicious prosecution and violation of civil rights. The man alleges that he was unlawfully pulled over for flipping the bird at sheriff's deputies. The man believes that flipping the bird is a form of political speech that is protected by the First Amendment.
The best part about this case is that it happened more than once. The first time the man flipped off a deputy, he was pulled over and cited for two traffic violations. The man fought these in court and won. About a month later, the man again flipped off a deputy. This time he was stopped but was not cited.
The driver in this case does have a good point. A person should not be pulled over simply for communicating, even vulgarly communicating, with the cops. It also raises the question, what in the world was this guy thinking. Whether or not we have the right to do so, most people do not go around flipping off cops. For one thing, it's not nice. For another, most people would probably expect to get pulled over.
In America, however, we should not have to fear being pulled over by the police. Even when we are rude and crude, we should expect the full protection of the Constitution. With that in mind, the man in this case is perhaps an unlikely American hero. He is standing up for the rest of our rights to make obscene gestures towards the police.
As I discussed in an earlier post about a State Trooper shooting, the best course of action is to treat police with respect. Not only do they have a difficult job, but they do have a great deal of power. It is not only polite to be nice to police, it is just smart. Nevertheless, it is entertaining to know that someone is out there asserting his right to be rude.
