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ACLU to represent woman cited for swearing at her toilet
An ACLU lawyer says: "This is an extreme example of the government trying to intrude into a place they have no business being, your bathroom and your home. You can prosecute somebody for bad language in Iran, this isn't Iran." (Scranton Times-Tribune)
October 17, 2007 | Permalink
Comments
Are these the 'freedoms' that the terrorists hate us for? :)
Posted by: Sean, Torrington CT | Oct 17, 2007 5:55:03 AM
Actually yes. Under the Taliban they would have probably just dragged the woman outside and stoned her to death. Thank goodness we have a decent court system, not based on extremist religious principals, where people can defend themselves. I'm curious to hear how this ends up. My guess is it will get tossed.
Posted by: G-Man | Oct 17, 2007 6:21:26 AM
Looks like two asshats had a bad day. I'm sure both will get what they deserve.
Posted by: Hey! | Oct 17, 2007 6:39:51 AM
“Freedom of speech is not an unfettered right.”
No truer words were spoken by any facist.
The people in West Scranton need to bring their law enforcement under control. The off-duty officer who brought the charge is going to cause a waste of money and time on the part of the city.
If the costs of these frivolous charges were docked from the paychecks of the cops, perhaps some real law enforcement would get done.
Posted by: KDP | Oct 17, 2007 6:41:54 AM
ACLU is a joke and cant have it both ways. Dang loosers!
Posted by: Sami-Sosa-Washington DC | Oct 17, 2007 6:45:31 AM
Not only is the article interesting but we can win prizes for finding the tree at the bottom of the page.....if you want to drive to Scranton to collect of course....
As I said yesterday, this cop has some audacity swearing at the woman and then turning her in for swearing...asshat of the week award.
Posted by: Cherie | Oct 17, 2007 6:45:47 AM
I'm totally bamboozaled why she isn't filing complains against him. If she got a disorderly conduct, then he should get conduct unbecoming of an officer.
Now, I don't like to speak ill of the police, but this is an example of abuse of power. It appears to me that since he didn't get his way, he pulled some strings to get her in trouble. There are things that are that serious. This is not that one of them. Lets all mail him pacifiers. When he gets angry, he can just pop one in his mouth, instead of throwing temper-tantrums like this and wasting time and money.
Posted by: Random White Guy | Oct 17, 2007 6:48:52 AM
Considering the questionable bad examples being set in Washington, I'm not surprised by this rash of law enforcement stories involving officers exceeding their authority. Trickle down misuse.
Posted by: debilsadvocado | Oct 17, 2007 6:52:34 AM
Scranton sounds like an overbearing place. No wonder Tuna's ex-girlfriend Karen moved away when they broke up.
Posted by: The_Overdog | Oct 17, 2007 7:00:24 AM
Hooray for the ACLU. They are the most important organization in the USA. Anyone who disagrees is an asshat, assclown, assflush, asswart and assass.
Posted by: true_patriot | Oct 17, 2007 7:31:40 AM
@ true_patriot:
You forgot asslump. :)
Posted by: Kestrelmas | Oct 17, 2007 7:37:11 AM
I agree, True_patriot.
I'd also add assmunch and asspaper to that list.
Posted by: David | Oct 17, 2007 7:38:33 AM
Hint: the terrorists hate us because we plop bases on their door step and meddle with their politics, G-Man, not because we allow our proto-Taliban government to arrest people for using 'bad words' in their own dwelling.
Posted by: Sean, Torrington CT | Oct 17, 2007 8:11:05 AM
There are plenty of places where swearing in public is a criminal offense, although in Virginia Beach it's limited to "very public places" like the streets and beaches, and "open" areas in businesses. I don't know if it applies to restrooms.
However, I would just like to say that I for one do not want anyone restricting my right to fecking pile of ceramic shite if it decides to back up. I will not stand by and allow more of my Constitution to be squashed under the big thumb of an overzealous police force or governmental agency which has its panties in a bunch over alleged but most likely never-in-existence terrorist concerns.
"We must protect our children." Screw that. Get out of my business and leave my Bill of Rights alone, dammit!
**Before you wail on me, I have kids. It's my job--and no one else's--to decide to what my kids are exposed.
Posted by: Soo | Oct 17, 2007 8:16:21 AM
Please insert the bold portion into the above:
right to call my toilet a fecking pile...
Thank you very much. My apologies to one and all. I get really heated when this particular topic comes up, and my hands stutter a bit.
Warm regards,
Soo
Posted by: Soo | Oct 17, 2007 8:18:57 AM
GOOO Soo! You got that right sister!
If I want to yell at my G.D. toilet and call it a M%&/!
F*^$#ing Piece of S&*# that is my own right in my own home and if I want to tell my kid to go get me the f*c#@( mop that is also my right.
Posted by: Cherie | Oct 17, 2007 8:22:53 AM
Sean the Islamic terrorists won't be happy until every woman in the world is wearing a burka. This is why they've committed terrorist acts in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Turkey, Spain, United Kingdom, Kenya, Tunisia, etc. etc. blowing up night clubs, hotels, temples, and embassies. Do you really think that if the US moved their bases out of the Middle East that they still wouldn't believe that the US shouldn't be wiped off the face of the earth?
Posted by: G-Man | Oct 17, 2007 8:46:07 AM
G-man, it would be harder for the terrorists to build support if we weren't intruding and meddling in their part of the world. And before you go defending our middle east military bases, you should do some research and find out just how many military bases we have all over the world. It's disgusting. And it ought to be totally repellant to people who so proudly proclaim themselves a Christian nation.
Posted by: true_patriot | Oct 17, 2007 8:52:15 AM
G-Man: Add Thailand to your list---many anti-Bhuddist murder/terrorist events there in the last few months.
Posted by: Sheila | Oct 17, 2007 9:34:00 AM
Sami-Sosa,
ACLU a joke?
I'll co-opt Aaron Sorkin's thoughts on the ACLU:
President Andrew Shepherd: For the record: yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU. But the more important question is why aren't you, Bob? Now, this is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights, so it naturally begs the question: Why would a senator, his party's most powerful spokesman and a candidate for President, choose to reject upholding the Constitution?
Over to you Sami........
Posted by: mydogFoster | Oct 17, 2007 10:33:31 AM
mydogFoster: What do you expect from one of those sub-morons who identify themselves so clearly by their inability to spell 'loser'? It's like he can't even spell his own name.
Posted by: true_patriot | Oct 17, 2007 10:47:32 AM
The ACLU is an anti-American organization that is doing more and more to promote the emergence of a Fifth Column in the U.S. The comments here that try and pass as political analysis, especially concerning the military and Islam, are laughably naive. If you people love Islamic societies so much, move to one.
Posted by: Dick Tater | Oct 17, 2007 10:57:12 AM
G-Man, both sides have done very stupid things. I don't care what reasons the terrorists have, only that my country does not behave badly. Perhaps pulling all those bases 50 years ago would have helped, perhaps not. If the USA hadn't bombed civilians during war and peace-time, backed rebel groups to overthrow and democratically elected government, and many other covert stuff, we'd have a better leg to stand on when criticizing the tactics of another group.
"They hate us for our freedom" is one of the most pathetic pieces of 4th-grade publum puked out by the drunkard in chief...it never fails to piss me off when I hear people repeating it.
Posted by: Sean, Torrington CT | Oct 17, 2007 10:59:41 AM
The ass-everything weighs in with another example of his pitiful ignorance. Again, for the slow to learn: the ACLU is the most important organization in the USA. The fact that you won't find an organization like it in the third-world countries the Dick is so afraid of is part of the proof of its importance.
Posted by: true_patriot | Oct 17, 2007 11:01:18 AM
Given the horrific erosion of personal liberties in the last six years in this country - all in the name of keeping us "safe" - I have to agree that the ACLU is needed now more than ever.
Posted by: Beppo | Oct 17, 2007 11:06:03 AM
