Can't Cuss at Cops

Big uh-oh for pottymouths! A judge has ruled that a man who yelled "Go f--- yourself!" at a cop can face disorderly conduct charges. The Post details the story of Ramon Morena, who had been arguing with a woman when a cop intervened. Morena yelled at the cop, so the cop gave him a summons that said the yelling "annoyed or alarmed the general public." Morena's lawyer tried to use the First Amendment and say only the cop was annoyed, not the public, but Criminal Court Judge Richard Weinberg disagreed, saying that he would not "condone the heaping of verbal abuse upon a police officer regardless of the circumstances." Word to the wise: Go with "Go fug yourself!" But we imagine that even if Morena didn't curse when yelling at the cop, he'd be slapped with a summons - police don't like it when there are lots of bikes on the streets, so they probably don't liked being yelled at either.

We have to give it up to the Post for their first sentence in the story: "Screaming an anatomically impossible obscene suggestion at a police officer is against the law..." And we bet Morena's lawyer uses the Cheney defense when the case goes back to the judge.

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By Jen Chung in News on August 30, 2006 12:28 PM

Comments [rss]

Fiona

While I can see the ridiculousness that could ensue when someone is getting pinned royally for swearing at a cop, I still can understand the need for the extra parameter. Screaming obscenities has a way of escalating a bad situation and if making it illegal deters a few people from trying to make a bad situation worse, than I can't blame them for passing it.

david

It's not low pay that contributes to police bullying, and raising taxes wouldn't solve it. It's the philosophy of the NYPD and their insulation from any kind of accountability to the public or prosecution for breaking the law.

interlard

Since when did New York move to 1930's Nazi Germany?? Why do the police insist on acting like the enemy?

I vote we raise our standards and raise taxes to employ better people. Who's in?

John

If the cop is insulting or extremely disrepectful of you then SURE, tell him to F* Off. Hell, he/she will even be expecting it. But you can't just insult them for trying to do their job. Gimme a break, that's a given.

What's REALLY spooky here is that picture of Cheney. That's one ugly, snarling SOB.

bob

Actually I've witnessed plenty of instances where it would have been completely appropriate to curse at cops, usually when they are issuing tickets or arresting people for breaking laws that don't exist, or for exercising their 1st Ammendment rights.

So, while it might be rude sometimes, many times the cops deserve a good talking to, at the very least, to say nothing of formal sanctioning or more.

So, this decision is quite unfortunate.

drewo

Jen Chung, I like your stories. Keep up the good work.

Infamy

^Hey 'Anitjen':

1)Learn to spell.

2)Go fuck yourself.

Anitjen

Jen Chung your are annoying. I hate the way you spin all of your "news" stories.

Samantha T

"To adopt defendant's arguments would be to effectively carve out a police-officer exception from the disorderly conduct statute and to condone the heaping of verbal abuse upon a police officer regardless of the circumstances. This the court will not do."

That sounds like excellent reasoning to me. And, yes, it probably would apply to somebody who screamed (as the guy did here) "Go to hell" at a cop. It was the combination of screaming and swearing here, not just the swearing (that's where the Post kind of has it wrong).

Papercutninja

This is retarded. While i do believe that Moreno was an ass for yelling F-You to the cop, and i think it was totally disrespectful, the judge is totally off base here. I am by no means one of those hippie, police-state fearing sissies, i think that the cops are doing a wonderful job, AND we need more of them. The point is, it's all semantics and subjective. Would this have been an issue if Moreno said "Go to Hell?". It's essentially the same phrase, but with different language.

We shouldn't curse at cops, but it also shouldn't be illegal.