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'Giving the finger is not a crime': Judge rules that US woman was wrongly stopped and given a ticket by police after she gave officer the bird
Daily Mail
Thu March 14, 2019
Area: Detroit
A judge ruled that a US woman was wrongly stopped and given a ticket after she gave a police officer the bird.
Debra Lee Cruise-Gulyas was stopped for speeding by police officer Matthew Wayne Winard while driving 18 miles southwest of Detroit.
Mr Winard showed mercy and gave her a ticket for a non-moving violation.
As he went away, however, she gave him the middle finger.
When he noticed, Winard switched on the lights and siren and he stopped her again.
He also ploughed into her car and gave her a moving violation.
Ms Cruise-Gulyas then sued the police officer for violating her constitutional rights.
The woman told the Washington Post she was unhappy because the area where she was stopped in June 2017 about 18 miles southwest of Detroit is a famous 'speed trap' for drivers.
'When I pulled off I gave him the middle finger,' she said.
Mr Winard went to the appeals court, claiming immunity from the suit.
He did not admit violating her rights and said, even if he did, those rights are not clearly established.
Judge Jeffrey Sutton said that, while the woman could be considered a bit 'ungrateful', the second stop was not reasonable because the police officer did not have any proof she had committed a crime.
He added that giving the finger is not a crime and this type of gesture is protected by the First Amendment, concerning freedom of expression.
The judge said the police officer also violated the Fourth Amendment, the right of people to be secure, which prohibits unreasonable searches, when he pulled her over again.
'Fits of rudeness or lack of gratitude may violate the Golden Rule,' he said.
'But that doesn't make them illegal or for that matter punishable or for that matter grounds for a seizure' of a motorist.
The case will now go back to the US District Court for further proceedings as the motorist is asking for damages.
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