Pardon me, sir, you are stepping on my rights

All of my regular readers know that you get whatever is hovering around in my brain on any given day and today it is the subject of our First Amendment Rights.  You know the ones I mean...

Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press,  Ratified 12/15/1791
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Yep, there are our First Amendment Rights!!!

OK, here's my "back and forth" "which way" what way" dillema for the day. While I totally agree we all have the right to say WHATEVER we feel like saying, is there EVER a time that we should be held accountable?
Sometimes it isn't that I am conflicted as much as I am irritated that people are so nasty and rationalize their bad behavior by claiming their First Amendment Rights. Yeh, yeh, I know it is their right.

  I don't consider myself a moron (hey, be nice out there) but isn't there a line somewhere between the right to say whatever you want and the rights of the person/people that you are inflicting pain upon by opening your yap.  Is it always the case that we are relegated  to say "Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me?"  

One of the more notable cases in the recent year has been about the hateful, repulsive, and feel free to fill in this [ blank  ]  with any other words of your choosing, members of the Westboro Baptist Church.  These vile reprobates have been in and out of the court system citing their right to free speech.  While the Supreme Court has ruled in their favor, I can't help but wonder, how this can be considered a "peaceful assembly".  The members of this so-called church are anything but peaceful.  They are extremist and they hurt people by their actions.  The most notable is their regular anti-gay demonstrations  at the funeral services of fallen soldiers.  Really, how low can people stoop in their total disrespect of others.

They also, demonstrate against any number of ethnic groups, Roman Catholics, main stream Protestant churches, Jews and Blacks. They are equal opportunity hate-mongers.  Basically they hate everyone that isn't a member of the WBC.

Oh, I am off on a tangent here aren't I?  I could (and would) berate the WBC all day and not get anywhere. They are still going to do what they do.  I hate that they are here in the state I live. (then again I wouldn't wish them to move anywhere else and inflict their putrid selves on another state)

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Well, the thing that got me started in this general direction is NOT JUST the WBC but overall, the people that invoke their right to the First Amendment without any regard for who's rights they are trampling on.

Here is a story that was in the local news here in Olathe, KS. not so long ago.  I guy taking his kids to school ran through a stop sign and was pulled over by an Olathe police officer.  The guy not only extended his finger but said to the cop twice " F*** You."   So he not only got a ticket for the stop violation but for disorderly conduct.  Seems fair enough to me but this is where the gray area comes in.  You have the right to voice your opinion even if its vile, disrespectful or whatever nature of trash talk spilling out of your mouth.

Turns out that this story isn't all that unusual.  When I pulled up the article there were pages of similar stories from other states that had  a common scenario .  According to the First Amendment you can be an ass to a cop (well...verbally...oh and the extended finger too, I guess).  Another case of "just because you have the right to do something" doesn't make it right to do it.

Here is a copy of one of the press releases:

OLATHE, Kan. -- The City of Olathe has settled a lawsuit with the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri on behalf of a man filing a lawsuit for receiving a ticket for flipping an officer off and shouting "(expletive) you."
The suit came after Scott Schaper was pulled over by Olathe police officer Craig Lundgren for failing to yield at a stop sign. The ACLU said since Schaper's children started to cry during the stop, so as he pulled away from the stop, Schaper said "(expletive) you" and directed his middle finger at Lundgren "in an expressive way."

Lundgren pulled Schaper over again and issued him a ticket for disorderly conduct.

ACLU Legal Director Doug Bonney sent the Olathe city prosecutor a letter pointing out that the ticket was unconstitutional. In November, the city dismissed the disorderly conduct ticket, the ACLU said.

On Thursday, the City of Olathe said its insurance company agreed to settle Schaper's civil rights claims out of court in exchange for $4,000 to Schaper and $1,000 in attorney's fees to the ACLU. As part of settlement the City of Olathe's Police Department has agreed to provide department-wide refresher training on the proper use of the disorderly conduct ordinance, the ACLU said.

"Courts have interpreted Kansas disorderly conduct statutes and ordinances very narrowly to bar only speech and conduct that is truly obscene and thus outside of First Amendment protection," Doug Bonney, legal director for the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri, said. "Many courts -- including the federal district court for Kansas -- have held that saying '(expletive) you' and using one's middle finger to express discontent or frustration is expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment.

So now our local officers are getting additional training how to take the bad behavior foisted on them in a professional manner.  Isn't that crap???? I wonder if Scott Schaper would have acted like the jerk he was, if he was needing an Olathe officer to protect him?  Of course, he wouldn't. Also, I have a problem with him behaving like that in front of the kids.  Great job of being a role model to his young ones.  Looking at the bright side, (if you can call this a bright side) Olathe got off better than Pittsburgh.  There a citizen was paid a  $50,000 settlement over the same type of exchange.

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Here now is one last example of "right to say it" versus the "really you should have just kept your mouth shut".   Alexander Wallace made a video at UCLA talking smack about Asians.  Politically Incorrect, doesn't hardly begin to describe the inappropriateness of this as it coincided with the earthquake in Japan.  Alexander left UCLA after the video stirred up a lot of hostility.

The video under Alexander's rant is a song written and preformed by Jimmy Wong  as a kind of spoof based on the phrases that Alexander used in her rant. 





So before any of you feel the need to quit following me because you disagree, send me a comment or email me. It is your right to say anything you want. It is my right to have an opinion. Shouldn't adults have the ability to discuss things even things we don't see eye to eye on.

What are your thoughts on the Westboro bunch? Or what about the guy with the ticket?  Should both of those situations get a free pass to say anything they please?




The Good for the day...The Olathe police department says that this type of behavior is really rare.


The Bad for the Day....That there are so many instances where people justify hateful actions and try to rationalize it by saying it is their First Amendment Right.  Still makes them  jerks, though.



The Weird for the Day....That it is against the law to be vulgar to a judge in a courtroom but not illegal to be vulgar to a police officer enforcing a law. If Scott Schaper would have done this to a judge he would have most likely been found in contempt and hauled off to jail.