Man Flips Off Construction Workers - Gets Ticket From Cop - Is Suing

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By Paula Reed Ward, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A New Castle man filed a federal lawsuit yesterday claiming his free-speech rights were violated last year when he was cited for using an obscene gesture at a construction worker.

Thomas Burns had been frustrated by a traffic delay during road work on April 27, 2005, on Broadhead Road in Center Township, Beaver County. As he passed by construction workers operating the "Stop-Go," sign, he flipped them his middle finger.

That was enough to raise the ire of the workers, who radioed the incident to Center Township Police Officer Samuel J. Johns, who was parked down the road, the lawsuit said.

The officer pulled Mr. Burns over and issued him a citation for obscene disorderly conduct, which he said would arrive by mail.

In his lawsuit, Mr. Burns said he never received the ticket, and in July, a constable showed up at his home to arrest him for failing to appear at a hearing.

Mr. Burns later appeared in magistrate's court to plead not guilty, and the charge was ultimately dismissed when neither Officer Johns nor the victim showed up at a hearing in October.

Yesterday, Mr. Burns filed his lawsuit, claiming his First Amendment right to free speech was violated, as were his 14th Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure and malicious prosecution.

Mr. Burns' lawsuit, which names both the township and Officer Johns, was filed by the same lawyer, Harlan Stone, who won a $9,000 settlement in a similar case in 2004.

http://post-gazette.com/pg/06073/669903.stm

no wonder he is upset

It's been shoved down our throats that freedom of speech does not include freedom from being offended. That's the big argument used to oppose hate speach laws. So if that argument can be used to defend racist, sexist, homophobic and xenophobic speech then it can be used to protect this guy.

Fuck 'em.

But this guy actually flipped off the Police. The pulled him over for it and eventually arrested him for drunk driving. The defense argued that there was no reasonable suspicion to stop the car based on the fact that flipping an officer off was not "disorderly conduct". The judge agreed and threw the case out. I believe it's being appealed.

a personal debt damn near matching the national debt :P

...I have to wonder why a driver had to flip off someone apparently just doing his job.

Seems stupid and petty, though, to report someone to the police for a gesture.

people assume the guys doing the work are responsible for the delays. it's much easier than going to the project trailer or the DOT office to flip off the people who made the schedule.

i was directing traffic with the help of a local cop who motioned for me to stop traffic on my side of the intersection. i did and was immediately berated by a woman driving a station wagon. she hung out the window just screaming curses at me. i turned my back, ignoring her, and watching for a signal from the cop. while my back was turned she actually bumped me with her car, pushing me forward and almost knocking me down. a big screaming match ensued, and she told me that she was driving a school vehicle and wasn't obligated to stop. (HUH?) i tried to get the cops attention, but he was pretty far away and hadn't witnessed the bump. by the time i was able to communicate what happened the woman had driven off.

police, it is a first amendment issue... I sw a court case on this in the northeast some years ago...

And re-think giving an officer the finger, especially in TX. Other states also.


Check out #2

PENAL CODE

TITLE 9. OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLICORDER AND DECENCY

CHAPTER 42. DISORDERLY CONDUCT ANDRELATED OFFENSES


§ 42.01. DISORDERLY CONDUCT. (a) A person commits an
offense if he intentionally or knowingly:
(1) uses abusive, indecent, profane, or vulgar
language in a public place, and the language by its very utterance
tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace;
(2) makes an offensive gesture or display in a public
place, and the gesture or display tends to incite an immediate
breach of the peace;

No, he shouldn't have been ticketed, but this is the same kind of fuckwit who thinks you shouldn't leave a tip or treat anyone who makes less money than you with anything approaching a modicum of respect.

I've worked road construction - you're taking your life in your hands when you get out there with all those fuckwits on the road. They're in such a damn hurry to get to where they're going, they don't want to stop long enough to let you fix the road they spend most of their time complaining about. I guess they just want it to magically fix itself.

Self-important, arrogant asshole.