Let’s file this one under the category of: I’d Like to Know Your Opinion.I’ll do my best from sharing my opinion, at least right away. But, read the following news story and tell me your thoughts.
The story comes from Pittsburg, PA. (Bill, your favorite town.) Pittsburg City police wrote nearly 200 disorderly conduct citations over a 32-month period for swearing, obscene gestures, and other acts deemed disrespectful.
After filing a Right to Know request, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) found 188 such citations. “Nobody likes to get sworn at, but you can’t make it a crime,” said Witold Walczak, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Foundation of Pennsylvania.
The ACLU’s request came in connection with a federal lawsuit involving David Hackbart, who was cited after allegedly making an obscene gesture at another driver, and then at a police sergeant. In a recent court filing, the city said the citation was not for Hackbart’s gestures, but because he was blocking traffic.
Walczak told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the city had initially claimed it had only one disorderly conduct citation involving rude remarks to police or other people over that period. Walczak said officers were wrong to cite a woman who said, “I’m a (expletive deleted) passenger,” during a traffic stop; a woman who was “swearing profanities to a companion in front of the Girl Scouts”; and a man who “engaged in loud noise, racial slurs, and pig remarks.”
Okay, there you go. You make the call. Where the police correct or out of hand? Is the ACLU taking this matter too far or to the logical conclusion?
Thoughts?
