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Wildwood police

RymRym
edited January 2011 in Everything Else
Wildwood police cite someone (threatening arrest) for wearing a Tshirt that includes the word "fuck." They then threaten bystanders recording the incident.

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I actually sent links to the video to the Wildwood department of commerce and asked for a comment (as a "member of the press"). We'll see what they say.

Comments

  • loltsundereloltsundere
    Dickbags.

    Is there really a law against that?
  • NuriNuri
    Dickbags.

    Is there really a law against that?
    There's probably some kind of public obscenity law. Whether or not it's Constitutional is a different question.
  • RuffasRuffas
    In 1971 the U.S. Supreme Court held that a state may not criminalize the simple wearing of clothing with the word "fuck":
    "...absent a more particularized and compelling reason for its actions, the State may not, consistently with the First and Fourteenth Amendments, make the simple public display ... of this single four-letter expletive a criminal offense."
    Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971) (upholding right of protester to wear a jacked with the words "Fuck the Draft")
  • JasonJason
    edited January 2011
    Police have a tendency to misuse "disturbing the peace" to mean "doing something we don't like but can't find a specific law making it illegal." The problem is that most people can't afford to fight the system. It takes a dedicated and well-to-do dick to protest it in court.
    Post edited by Jason on
  • MattMatt
    Police in touristy areas can be pretty bad with this sort of thing. Willing to abuse their powers in failed attempts to maintain some sort of friendly image.
  • NuriNuri
    Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971) (upholding right of protester to wear a jacked with the words "Fuck the Draft")
    Just to give a little more context here, in this case the holding hinged on the fact that the shirt conveyed a message and the words were not specifically antagonizing anyone. The State tried to say they were "fighting words," and therefore inciting violence, but fighting words have to be directed at a specific person. Text on a shirt, absent more evidence of specific context, doesn't qualify as directed speech.

    In addition, "Fuck the draft" is a statement of a message. "Fuck" isn't really a statement about anything (unless he tries to make an argument that he is advocating sex or something). Unless the shirt's text actually conveys an idea, the first amendment really doesn't kick in.
  • RuffasRuffas
    Context is nice. Video says the shirt read "FUCK I'M LEMNE" which is Romanian for...something. So it sounds like a "Kiss me I'm Irish" shirt, but with more fuck.
  • CremlianCremlian
    Most of the shirts sold in Wildwood are fighting words ^_^
  • AprecheApreche
    Most of the shirts sold in Wildwood are fighting words ^_^
    Truth!
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    The cops that were telling the guy to stop filming were definitely dicks.

    However, that video doesn't have nearly enough context to figure out why the guy with the shirt was being cited. If New Jersey has an obscenity statute of some kind, and the guy who was being cited could have been legitimately causing issues.

    This 3 minute video does not contain enough information for me to make a judgment.
  • ColdguyColdguy
    You need to remember, this is Wildwood! How do you think they get the tourists cash on top of the hotel costs? Just another BS thing the cops do on the shore, why must they suck on such a rocking place :(.
  • RymRym
    If New Jersey has an obscenity statute of some kind,
    There's been a pretty long streak of these sorts of statutes being taken down when actually challenged in court lately. The ones that persist tend to only be enforced against people without the ability or will to take them to trial.
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