December 13, 2018

"It Took a Jury 9 Minutes to Decide a Man Could Legally Blast 'Fuck tha Police' Near an Officer."

Reason reports.
[T]he officer slapped [James Webb] with a ticket for misdemeanor noise violation, citing that Webb played the song at an "extremely high volume."....

Prior to the verdict, the deputy said that he took issue with the vulgarity of the word "fuck" in the song. However, Nicholas Somberg, a lawyer who represented Webb pro bono, said that a video from the initial traffic stop showed the officer using the same word with Franklin.....

When asked what he would say to the officer who ticketed him, Webb told FOX 2 Detroit, "I don't know, just same as the song would say. Sorry. Sorry that you didn't get one over on somebody."

34 comments:

chillblaine said...

This is an easy one, n'est-ce pas? What if someone remixed the song, and substituted a true protected class for the word, "police." Think you can see where we are going. For example, I want to make a video that says, "BTFO THAT YENTA C-NT," and it doesn't seem a stretch to see the same jury return a conviction.

rhhardin said...

Fuck, as in fuck the police, isn't a verb.

http://babel.ucsc.edu/~hank/quangphucdong.pdf

Phil 314 said...

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial

2 Corinthians 6:12

Kevin said...

“Take away the right to say "fuck" and you take away the right to say "fuck the government." — Lenny Bruce

Matt Sablan said...

I wonder how many other noise violations have been recorded.

Ralph L said...

Most police are trained to have annoyingly good manners and anger control to avoid this kind of defense.

My city instituted a noise ordinance 20 years ago to stop the motorcycle convoys from blasting through town a hundred feet from my bedroom. Yes, I have that kind of pull. They also stopped the kids from cruising on Main Street Saturday nights, so now they're whoring and drinking all over town.

Leland said...

It took 9 minutes? The judge let it get that far?

Chuck said...

So the folks at Reason want to live in a world where young badasses can yell/play/blast "Fuck tha police" at high volume. I don't. I want to live in a quiet, pleasant neighborhood without such behavior. Leaf blowers are the limits of my tolerance.

Expat(ish) said...

Legit, both sides got to make their point.

-XC

PS - That song is on my lifting and running playlist, a rare achievement.

MadTownGuy said...

It's not the word, but the violence implicit in it.

Ralph L said...

There's a lot of implicit violence in a policeman (deputy sheriff in this case).

iowan2 said...

So the folks at Reason want to live in a world where young badasses can yell/play/blast "Fuck tha police" at high volume. I don't. I want to live in a quiet, pleasant neighborhood without such behavior. Leaf blowers are the limits of my tolerance.

You claim to be a lawyer and yet you post stupid stuff.

This wasn't about quiet. A smart cop might have used that law if it were availible.

This is about the government deciding what you can say or play, in public. You may want piece and quiet, and places like pre war Iraq had exactly that. No crime, civility, safety etc (they also had rape rooms)... That's what you advocate for.
No thanks.

iowan2 said...

Most police are trained to have annoyingly good manners and anger control to avoid this kind of defense.

In Des Moines, a cop arrested a Black male running for office, knocking on doors and putting out door hangers. The idiocy of trained police never ceases to amaze me.

Chuck said...

iowan2 said...
So the folks at Reason want to live in a world where young badasses can yell/play/blast "Fuck tha police" at high volume. I don't. I want to live in a quiet, pleasant neighborhood without such behavior. Leaf blowers are the limits of my tolerance.

You claim to be a lawyer and yet you post stupid stuff.

This wasn't about quiet. A smart cop might have used that law if it were availible.

This is about the government deciding what you can say or play, in public. You may want piece and quiet, and places like pre war Iraq had exactly that. No crime, civility, safety etc (they also had rape rooms)... That's what you advocate for.
No thanks.


The trial took place in the 50th District Court in Pontiac. And now, the liberty-loving people of Pontiac (loving liberty when their once-failed municipal government isn't under emergency management by the State of Michigan) have spoken.

I didn't say that I was surprised by the jury verdict, or that it was legally indefensible. My comment was purely aesthetic. Have you been to Pontiac? I will be there late this afternoon. They can "Fuck tha police" in Pontiac all they want; I wouldn't want to live there.

And I just knew that this story would attract the libertarian side of Althouse. Libertarianism, that is, which resides in a quietly elegant, leafy, almost-all-white, well-to-do neighborhood on the fringes of the University of Wisconsin. I presume that I am one of the very few people here who have spent considerable time in (a) Althouse's neighborhood and (b) the Pontiac neighborhood where the Oakland County Sheriff's Deputy issued the civil citation at issue in this case.

Scott M said...

Regardless of the lyrical content...are noise violations no longer enforced?

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I never thought obscene words were a problem, but the noise, anger, and threat behind them could be.

If the deputy hadn't gotten pissy/prissy about the word "fuck" he could have won on the noise violation.

BarrySanders20 said...

As high school students, we used to drive north to Pontiac to buy beer. Stroh's 30 packs mostly. Learned a lot about how the world works on those adventures.

Sounds like Pontiac is about how I remember it.

AZ Bob said...

Not withstanding the verdict, you don't pull on Superman's cape.

FIDO said...

The self delusion of X is amazing. (Where X = any number of anti social subcultures)

If X acts like a counter culture, norm violating, criminal uplifting, dangerous ASSHOLE, when Society does catch you for an actual crime, you don't get to bitch when you pull twice the normal sentence from a non dangerous looking, normally norm supporting citizen.

If you want to 'Fuck the Police', I can only imagine whom else you want to 'fuck'.

It might be me.

So welcome to things like the 30% incarcerated statistic for your bad self.

FIDO said...

Shorter answer: if you act dangerous, I owe you zero benefit of the doubt.

Curious George said...

"Blogger Chuck said...
I presume that I am one of the very few people here who have spent considerable time in (a) Althouse's neighborhood..."

You are one skeevy dude.

Chuck said...

Curious George said...
"Blogger Chuck said...
I presume that I am one of the very few people here who have spent considerable time in (a) Althouse's neighborhood..."

You are one skeevy dude.



Taking you at your word, Madison would appear to have more than a half a million "skeevy dudes" just this past fall... That would also include the Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, whose state-owned house is a five minute walk from the Alt-house. Also spending "considerable time in Althouse's neighborhood." More, in fact, than me since I haven't been to Madison in a couple of years.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

would blasting "FUCK THA JUDGE !" have garnered a different result?

Bad Lieutenant said...

Chuck said...
Curious George said...
"Blogger Chuck said...
I presume that I am one of the very few people here who have spent considerable time in (a) Althouse's neighborhood..."

You are one skeevy dude.



Taking you at your word, Madison would appear to have more than a half a million "skeevy dudes" just this past fall.


Chuck, allow me to help you here. You are skeevy, not because you have spent time in Althouse's neighborhood, but because you keep making reference to that fact, to the fact that, as the saying goes, "you know where she lives."

I haven't the legal background to know the right Latin words to explain how that is threatening, but it is threatening and you do it constantly. You can't help yourself, apparently.

Hence, skeevy. There are other words, to be sure. Like "Not Guilty" when she dumps the clip into you and then reloads, because with her impaired vision, she couldn't be sure if you were still a threat.

BTW on the original topic thread: if James Webb can't sing or play "Fuck tha Police," you probably can't do "Fuck Trump," and I don't know if you could live that way.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Excuse me. I meant "dumps the *magazine* into you," of course. No modern arms employ clips, though the term is often used loosely as a synonym.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Chuck has now confirmed he's a stalker.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

Lifelong Cuck wants to live in a world where the government gets to criminalize your speech.

Stick to pretending you ever passed a bar exam, instead or pretending not to be a lefty cunt, Chuck.

Chuck said...

You hateful little trolls.

There have been more actual photographs by Meade, of the front elevation of the Alt-house, posted to this blog than there have been occasions on which I have blandly mentioned that I am familiar with her well-known neighborhood in Madison. For people in that neighborhood, Meade is a regular participant on the neighborhood association listserv. And why not? I regard it as all highly "normal" (to steal a tag from one of today's blog posts).

This is what your comments pages have become, Althouse:

Bad Lieutenant said...
...
...
...
Hence, skeevy. There are other words, to be sure. Like "Not Guilty" when she dumps the clip into you and then reloads, because with her impaired vision, she couldn't be sure if you were still a threat.


And:

President-Mom-Jeans said...
Lifelong Cuck wants to live in a world where the government gets to criminalize your speech.

Stick to pretending you ever passed a bar exam, instead or pretending not to be a lefty cunt, Chuck.


These are your comments pages, Althouse. On your blog. Shame on you for allowing it.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

Somebody call the whaaaaaambulance, Chuck is crying to Mommy Althouse again. He soiled his diaper and the other kids on the playground are calling him mean names, and not going along with his make believe game of being a lawyer.

Look out Althouse, he is going to shame you! He isn't really upset though, otherwise he would be calling Meade by his first name instead of just making creepy references to where he lives and participation in a neighborhood association.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

"[redacted] is a regular participant on the neighborhood association listserv"

Skeevier and skeevier.

iowan2 said...

FFS Chuck, everything is not about you. If you don't like criticism, don't agree with cops that shit all over the constitutional rights of people. (a real lawyer would be instinctive on such matters)

Earnest Prole said...

In the olden days the cop would have whacked this guy in the head with his nightstick, so I think we can consider this progress.

Bunkypotatohead said...

So what is your recourse when Webb sets up his ghetto blaster in front of your house, playing "FUCK ALTHOUSE" all evening.
There is a reason white flight never ends.

Josephbleau said...

Blogger Scott M said...
Regardless of the lyrical content...are noise violations no longer enforced?

12/13/18, 9:38 AM

A Year ago in Chicago teens who were driving around the city with loud music playing were arrested and had their cars (or mostly their parents cars) confiscated. The cops let them loose on the spot and did not offer to drive them anywhere. Some of the teens were set adrift in bad neighborhoods to walk several miles to the public transport and the cops did nothing to protect them (noisy bitches).