Giving the Cops the Finger is Constitutionally Protected

Turn on the news, check out Twitter, and every so often there is a  story about someone getting a traffic ticket and then the situation escalates.

When those situations escalate, someone is either arrested, tased, or shot. But what is the ultimate way to get a cop to escalate the situation after they’ve given their command? What is one action which all men and women see as the ultimate public insult? I’m talking about flipping someone the ol’bird, ladies and gents.

Thanks to a recent court ruling, flipping off a cop is considered constitutionally protected free speech.

A recent piece discussed that now cops can’t pull you over for giving a passerby the one finger salute, nor can they arrest you if you give them the old “George Bush.” The article discussed how this landmark decision came to be, stating that the “verdict stems from a case involving a Michigan woman, who was pulled over for speeding by the police in 2017.

Rather than give her a ticket for driving too fast, officer Matthew Minard decided to show her a little leniency and issued a citation for a “non-moving violation,” which is a cheaper fine but the officer’s roadside chivalry apparently wasn’t satisfactory enough for Cruise-Gulyas, so she gave him the finger as she sped away from the scene.

As a result, the officer made up a traffic ticket for her in order to teach her to respect authority. Cruise-Gulyas then hired an attorney and went to court arguing her First Amendment right gave her the God-given ability to give the “Bronx salute” to anyone she wanted – police included.

As a result of her stand for all Americans, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit sided with Cruise-Gulyas. Judge Jeffrey Sutton – who presided over this case – declared that “Fits of rudeness or lack of gratitude may violate the Golden Rule, but that doesn’t make them illegal or for that matter punishable.”

There you have it America. Flipping off a cop might not be the smartest thing to do, but it is well within your rights to do so thanks to one angry motorist.