Cops Pay $4,000 to Man Who Flipped Them Off

[SecularMotion]

Source: Wired News

A suburban Oregon police department is paying a local man $4,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit in which he claimed he was pulled over for flipping off the cops in traffic.

Twice he saluted with his middle finger while driving, and was pulled over each time by a Clackamas County patrol officer, resulting in what he said was a tongue lashing and “bogus” citations that were later dismissed. He sued in March.

“It was just time to settle,” the plaintiff, Robert Ekas, said in a brief telephone interview Thursday. The retired Silicon Valley systems analyst declined to elaborate.

Edward McGlone III, the counsel for Clackamas County, just outside Portland, said the local government settled rather than litigate for “business reasons.”

Read more: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/11/middle-finger-case/

[Rixtang]

1. My wife..

..has explained to me that any rude type of hand gesture to
any motorist in Germany will result in fines and possible jail
time. 

[RandomThoughts]

2. I consider consolidations of wealth, and use of deception

to be far ruder then someone willing to express dissatisfaction, even if outside of social norms.

Removing things like that is an attempt to remove any form of dissent for a system, the real reason is trying to define what is civil, without looking at what civilization really should be.

Sure being rude is not always best idea, but neither is the rudeness of action cloaked by what some call as 'acceptable' only because it is in the system, yet can not be defended.

[Rebubula]

4. Sorry...

what the hell are you talking about?

[w4rma]

11. He's saying forced politeness can be used to cover up reality.

So that our "betters" don't have to see the reality for those whom they are walking on.

[RandomThoughts]

14. Great comment there.

Yea it is not wanting to see dissent, it is like saying shut up and take it. Or get use to it. It is a common action to put down people to try and shield some people from dissent.

If a cop is getting flipped off, maybe it will get him to think on the system he is working for. I do think many cops do much good, but the errors in the system that get some mad at them, should be in their thoughts, so if a system asks them to do wrong, they will have thought about how many people feel about it.

That same exact concept is part of media control also.

[RandomThoughts]

13. What am I talking about? Do you really not understand what I posted?

You posted that flipping someone off was a crime. That is an attempt to establish codes of conduct on how people communicate, because that action is considered rude to people.

It does not equate if it is deserved, nor is the right to express thought about, it has one goal, to make people less expressive of dissent, or dissatisfaction with something.

How can that not make sense?

However the people that make some words like swear words, or finger gestures illegal, do not stop and think of all the rude lack of civility in the very actions of the system they try to defend only because it is the system. If someone is rude by some action within a system, then a person should be able to flip them off if that is their choice of expression. In my view such a law is wrong, flipping someone off shows lack of respect for authority, and laws want to force respect for authority instead of earn that respect. That is a main component of authority systems that allow imbalance.


Flipping someone off is far less rude then throwing people out of houses, or letting them die without health care. Yet it is something they legislate on. Because it is about dissent and expression, and removing expression is a protection of any system.

[ronnie624]

22. *

:thumbsup:

[crim son]

6. Luckily we don't live in Germany, yes? n/t

[rasputin1952]

17. When I was stationed in Germany, one of the first things we were

told was that the Polizei were literally "the law" on the street. One would not want to piss them off. The few I met were pretty decent people, but I wasn't about to do any "testing". For one thing, when in another country, it's wise to find out what is acceptable and what isn't. In Northern Italy a GI buddy of mine merely scratched his throat, but it looked like he was "flipping off" a waiter in the restaurant we were in...things got interesting...:D But it all worked out in the end...:)

[DCKit]

20. Had only BushCo* received the same advice before venturing into the M.E..

No clue about the culture, no care for the ramifications.

[rasputin1952]

21. bush is so incredibly stupid I'm surprised he can put on socks

w/o help.

When one has a culture that considers 1000 year old vendettas as legitimate one need be very cautious. There are reports of people still killing off each other because things that happened generations before.

Sun Tzu's wisdom was lost on bush..."First, know your enemy". The man is beyond idiot, and he surrounded himself w/stupid people s he'd feel smart.

[Rebubula]

3. Gosh...

...a court awarded a man money for being an asshole - which is legally protected, I guess.

Yes - Robert Ekas, you are allowed to be an asshole. Be proud.

[Demstud]

5. Correction

He got awarded money for being harassed by authority figures. Being a non-dangerous asshole isn't good reason to be fined by the police. He did nothing illegal.

[Rebubula]

8. True

He did nothing illegal.

However, he is an asshole and a moron. Giving the finger to anyone, for no discernible reason, is rude and anti-social.

[notesdev]

12. Depends on who you give it to

giving it to cops who ticket people they don't like with no lawful basis to do so?

Seems more than appropriate to me.

[rasputin1952]

16. We don't have the full story here...

was this just a quick oh hell flip off, or was there something the cop did that instigated the situation. Plenty of arrogant people in this world, and with specific powers, police officers can use situations in ways we can't. For all we know, these guys could have been HS buddies or enemies, who knows. I had a cop angrily move me around a wreck, shouting at me and cussing the whole time...I didn't flip him off, but did say, "lighten up", which got me hauled over and all kinds of harassment followed. So while another cop took his place directing traffic, I was given a ticket from driving on the grass after being told to go there. I went to court, judge threw it out, and dressed down the cop, in open court, for abuse of "color of authority". One of the lawyers in the court room told me outside I could sue, but I figured why?

The ones that get physical are the one's that need to be taken out of the system. I saw a man nearly beaten to death after being cuffed, on the ground, face down, unconscious and being beaten w/batons and flashlights. I called the State Police, they showed up almost immediately and took control of the situation. I had to make out a witness report, but I never did find out what happened to those bastards.

[chidy]

24. don't bother

this is DU. where good democrats apologize for getting shot in the face.

[No Elephants]

7. Like it or not, flipping cops the bird = speech and govt may not harass you for "saying"

something govt doesn't like.

[CLANG]

10. Maybe so, but I hope he never needs speedy action by an police officer on his behalf.

[dotymed]

9. I thought (think) it is illegal

in IN, to "flip off" a cop. Does anyone know? How about TN?

[Thor_MN]

15. I'm pretty sure it is a person's constitutional right to 'flip off' any person, anywhere in the US.

[snooper2]

18. negative, what would the legal rational be

The cop might get "offended" and not be able to perform his/her duties? :rofl:

[EnviroBat]

19. I had a State Cop read me the riot act for slowing down while

going through an intersection where he was failing to direct traffic. He almost caused an accident. When he asked me "What the hell was I slowing down for"! I answered, "Because you're standing in the middle of an intersection with your thumb up your dumb ass"! If he could have followed me, he probably would have pulled me over and proceeded to beat me to death. More often than not, cops are useless morons.

[guruoo]

23. Childish behavior, childish response. nt