Federal Court Says Flipping Off The Police Is Constitutional

I received an e-mail yesterday with "It's The Law" in the subject line. Normally, this kind of stuff hits my spam filter, and I never see it, so I was a little nervous when I clicked on the link (I get into a lot of trouble for looking at naughty e-mails at work...).

According to this story from the Huffington Post, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled a police officer can't pull you over and arrest you just because you gave him the finger. In a 14 page opinion, they said that the "ancient gesture of insult is not the basis for a reasonable suspicion of a traffic violation or impending criminal activity."

The case originally went to court when John Swartz and his wife Judy Mayton-Swartz had sued two police officers who arrested Swartz in May 2006 after he flipped off an officer who was using a radar device. The officer tried to claim he pulled the couple over because he believed Swartz was "trying to get my attention for some reason." The appeals court didn't buy that explanation, ruling that the "nearly universal recognition that this gesture is an insult deprives such an interpretation of reasonableness."

For the whole story, click here.

In my own humble opinion, I strongly urge you to NOT test this theory. Odds are, making a cop angry can only make bad things happen for you. If you do decide to give the one-finger salute to a boy in blue, make sure you're not breaking any laws - no matter how minor - and all of your running lights better be working. Maybe you should just use all five fingers when you wave...