Driver fights ticket for (anti-Bush) bumper sticker

[quaoar]

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/dekalb/stories/0328metsticker.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13

By CHANDLER BROWN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/28/06

It was 9:30 on a recent Friday night when Denise Grier saw blue lights in her rearview mirror.

< snip >

"The officer asked if I knew I had a lewd decal on my car and I thought, 'Oh gosh, what did my kids put on my car?' "

As it turns out, the decal was an anti-Bush bumper sticker Grier slapped on her 2001 Chrysler Sebring last summer. The bumper sticker — "I'm Tired Of All The BUSH—" — contains an expletive.

The officer "said DeKalb had an ordinance about lewd decals and wrote me a ticket" for $100, said Grier, an oncology nurse at Emory University Hospital who lives in Athens.

[NVMojo]

1. I hope this story gets more national coverage!

[BlackHeart]

This better not be

selective enforcement. I hope they are pulling over every pick up truck that has the little boy peeing.

[demosincebirth]

6. Its selective alright...in the cops personal beliefs.

[Jax]

7. The last one of those I saw

the boy was pissing on a picture of b*sh taped to the rear window of the van it was on. It was great.

[Cleetus]

2. oh my

what did the sticker say?

This cop was a asshole. So much for the 1st Amendment. I hope you take this to court, and I wish you well.

[quaoar]

3. The word they edited

was Bushit, as in Bush shit.

[buddysmellgood]

30. Well, most people would find the word Bush obscene. Should be interesting.

[longship]

4. I'm Tired Of All The BUSHit.

That's not obscene. That's truth.

[sui generis]

5. Well, clearly the police officer can't read.

She needs to say as someone who can spell pretty well that had she WANTED to say BULLSHIT she would have made sure the bumper sticker said BULLSHIT with two LL's instead of Bushit which is not a word in any dictionary or even the english language.

And she would have the opportunity to say BULLSHIT to the judge several times and even explain the difference in spelling.

She needs to kindly point out to the police officer that we have conventions in spelling for a reason. Buck Fush is a meaningless phrase, although Buck is a real word. If someone says "buck you" they're not being any more obscene than someone saying "dang" in place of "damn" or dad-gum in place of god damn.

However clearly since the cop knew that this was an opportunity to harrass someone, it qualifies as an altogether different kind of "crime" and he should really consider whether he had public safety in mind or just a vendetta against liberals using vexatious litigation and abuse of authority.

[quaoar]

8. Well said

Good points

[phusion]

9. well said...

This sounds like a case that Boston Legal could recreate!

[LiberalFighter]

17. Plus it is pronounced Bush It

[hootinholler]

26. Bushit (v)

The proper thing for the judge to do with the ticket is to bushit.

When one fucks up an anvil with a rubber mallet, you have performed bushit.

-Hoot

[Lautremont]

27. Apparently he can't write, either.

The name is illegible on the ticket, which may open up some other avenue of defence (not that it's needed) - something about knowing who your accuser is. You'd think there would be such a law. But then, I suppose her accuser is the town or county the officer represents.

Pointless ramble over.

[napi21]

10. It was on our local 11PM news last night.

I read about this on Du several days ago, and was pleasantly surprised to see it on our 11PM news last night! It's also GREAT that the ACLu is helping her!

I still think this cop was a rookie, or reassigned to a new territory! I'd bet he's asking everybody "How the hell do I get out of this NOW?"

[coalition_unwilling]

12. Georgia has an active ACLU chapter, if memory serves.

It needs to get all over this.

[mitchum]

11. Even if the sticker had read BULLSHIT, I still don't see how it is lewd...

since BULLSHIT has no sexual connotation
Unless...
the cop was from the real backwoods of Georgia, and shit from a bull does have a real sexual meaning for him.

[Kerrytravelers]

18. LOL!

:rofl:

[CottonBear]

22. He is a DeKalb County policeman. Dekalb Co. is metro Atlanta.

He's probably an urban RW freeper.

Anyway, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled on the bumper sticker issue a decade ago. A "Shit Happens" bumper sticker was ruled to be NOT lewd and to be free speech. :) The cop didn't know this. Oops!

[ComerPerro]

24. And ive seen much more vulgar things on bumper stickers

[quaoar]

13. She has a court date

Grier, 47, the mother of four grown sons, is due in Recorder's Court on April 18. She has not removed the bumper sticker in question, or six other mostly politically oriented decals on her car. "I used to think that one person could not make a difference," said Grier. "Now I'm beginning to think one person can, and should. We shouldn't be afraid to stand up for what we believe in."

[Pacifist Patriot]

16. Good for her!

[Gato Moteado]

14. what if you have a bumper sticker that says: "i love my shitzu" ?

will you get arrested in georgia?

[MurrayDelph]

15. No, but

saying that you like Shitake mushrooms might.

[glitch]

20. Don't you guys mean sh__zu and sh__ake?

Try not to be so lewd, can't ya? :rofl:

The beauty of all of this is that cop greatly amplified her message.
Kudos, copper.

[Gregorian]

19. What a bunch of SHITAKE.

That's another word that contains "shit". So what's the deal? We kill people, and it seems to be ok. Didn't these people graduate from first grade? Remember- sticks and stones can break my bones, but words are...fool me twice and... Oh fuck it.

[file83]

32. I wouldn't Bush it. Put a friendly little space in there and your problems

are solved.

[CottonBear]

21. Link to my post: the woman lives in my town & story was front page news:

Please note that Mrs. Grier lives in Athens-Clarke County but was ticketed in DeKalb County (near Atlanta).

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x745337

[AX10]

23. The cop should be fired and denied all pensions.

There is no justification for this.

[RagAss]

31. actually he should find a nice comfortable place and

Fuck Himself.

[texpatriot2004]

25. Good luck to her, may she win BIG nm

[B Calm]

28. Should I take my Buck Fush sticker off my car?

[buddysmellgood]

29. Yes, and replace it with FUCK BUSH :)

[Rocknrule]

33. Yea, I always thought "Buck Fush" was a stupid slogan

"Fuck Bush" does just nicely