Disorderly Conduct Charge or Posting a Sign that Includes a Swear Word

I was told by my husband to hang a sign on a wall on our property that said "stay off our roof and stop cutting our ****ing tree". My husband looked up cases before asking me to do this to make sure it was legal, he read cases on Cohen vs. California and Robert J Ekas. He found out although in may be unappropriated it is well within our 1st and 14th constitutional rights. I hung the sign. 8 hours later a neighbor came to my door stating he ripped the sign down and then continued to yell and scream at me and my husband . I called the police and asked that my neighbor be charged with destruction of property, theft and disorderly conduct. When the police showed up, they refused to arrest my neighbor and instead arrested me for disorderly conduct simply on the grounds of hanging a sign that says "****ing tree" on it. I am pleading an obvious not guilty. This kind of treatment towards us has been going on for 8 years. The police have illegally blocked my right of freedom of speech under the 1st and 14th amendment of the constitution and are now prosecuting me for exercising those rights.This happened in St. Johns, AZ

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Quoting azsexe1

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I was told by my husband to hang a sign on a wall on our property that said "stay off our roof and stop cutting our ****ing tree". My husband looked up cases before asking me to do this to make sure it was legal, he read cases on Cohen vs. California and Robert J Ekas. He found out although in may be unappropriated it is well within our 1st and 14th constitutional rights. I hung the sign. 8 hours later a neighbor came to my door stating he ripped the sign down and then continued to yell and scream at me and my husband . I called the police and asked that my neighbor be charged with destruction of property, theft and disorderly conduct. When the police showed up, they refused to arrest my neighbor and instead arrested me for disorderly conduct simply on the grounds of hanging a sign that says "****ing tree" on it. I am pleading an obvious not guilty. This kind of treatment towards us has been going on for 8 years. The police have illegally blocked my right of freedom of speech under the 1st and 14th amendment of the constitution and are now prosecuting me for exercising those rights.This happened in St. Johns, AZ

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I guess it is okay for you to scream fire in a crowded theatre as well, huh:confused:

You didn't have to use profanity. You could have been more civil and there wouldn't have been an issue.

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Quoting azsexe1

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I was told by my husband to hang a sign on a wall on our property that said "stay off our roof and stop cutting our ****ing tree". My husband looked up cases before asking me to do this to make sure it was legal, he read cases on Cohen vs. California and Robert J Ekas. He found out although in may be unappropriated it is well within our 1st and 14th constitutional rights. I hung the sign. 8 hours later a neighbor came to my door stating he ripped the sign down and then continued to yell and scream at me and my husband . I called the police and asked that my neighbor be charged with destruction of property, theft and disorderly conduct. When the police showed up, they refused to arrest my neighbor and instead arrested me for disorderly conduct simply on the grounds of hanging a sign that says "****ing tree" on it. I am pleading an obvious not guilty. This kind of treatment towards us has been going on for 8 years. The police have illegally blocked my right of freedom of speech under the 1st and 14th amendment of the constitution and are now prosecuting me for exercising those rights.This happened in St. Johns, AZ

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So many people misunderstand the concept of "Freedom of speech".

The Constitution protects you from the Government thwarting your speech.

The rest of us mere mortals? Well, you can say what you want. But you must understand that there may be consequences for doing so.

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Quoting Dogmatique

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So many people misunderstand the concept of "Freedom of speech".

The Constitution protects you from the Government thwarting your speech.

The rest of us mere mortals? Well, you can say what you want. But you must understand that there may be consequences for doing so.

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Whoa whoa whoa...since when is the princess of the underworld mortal:eek:

(It's my day off ;) )

Antigone, on the contrary, One mans profanity is another mans lyrics, We all have the right and we all need to test it . Otherwise we will loose it.

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Quoting azsexe1

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Antigone, on the contrary, One mans profanity is another mans lyrics, We all have the right and we all need to test it . Otherwise we will loose it.

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Doesn't matter - you still have to face possible consequences for your actions.

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Quoting azsexe1

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Antigone, on the contrary, One mans profanity is another mans lyrics, We all have the right and we all need to test it . Otherwise we will loose it.

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So I'm going to test you here, tell me how you like these lyrics:

Loose is what happens to your bowels after eating greasy food. Lose is what happens when something you once had is gone.


Oh, and you still have no case

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Otherwise we will loose it.

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Is that like "Loose the hounds of Hell"? (Seriously, it's "lose".)

And no, you're not going to lose your ability to swear if you don't plaster it on a sign. I'm quite creatively profane when I want to be - and I often want to be - but there is a time and a place, and gratuitous vulgarity for vulgarity's sake out of some misguided "use it or lose it" philosophy quite certainly can and should cause you some trouble. You are not the Great Free Speech Crusader you fancy yourself to be, simply by dint of dropping an F-bomb in a publicly viewable place.

You've caught heat for your behavior for 8 years now? Stop acting like a bag of festering assholes, and you won't have that problem any more. (See what I did there?) The notion that "freedom of speech" somehow absolves you of the consequences of your speech is absurd.

BTW this is a U.S. case.

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Quoting azsexe1

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BTW this is a U.S. case.

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We gathered that. :cool:

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Quoting azsexe1

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BTW this is a U.S. case.

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Here I go being lyrical again: So freakin what???

So we should just throw the 1968 landmark case of California VS Cohen out the window along with our civil rights?? also the reason we have been harassed for 8 years by the police is because we are gay, if that makes us assholes that's your opinion! Now if any one has "real" legal knowledge instead of opinions, that would be great.

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Quoting azsexe1

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So we should just throw the 1968 landmark case of California VS Cohen out the window along with our civil rights?? also the reason we have been harassed for 8 years by the police is because we are gay, if that makes us assholes that's your opinion! Now if any one has "real" legal knowledge instead of opinions, that would be great.

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Please feel free to pay an attorney to listen to your teeny tantrums.

You're welcome!

http://blog.oregonlive.com/clackamas...es_free_s.html kind of looks like I do...But thx :friendly_wink:

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also the reason we have been harassed for 8 years by the police is because we are gay

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That's not what you said upthread.

Your sexuality is irrelevant to your using profanity for the sake of using profanity in a publicly viewable place. You doubtless violated some local ordinance, and now there are consequences. If you threw around half the attitude at the cops that you've thrown around here, it's no wonder you have problems. "Testing free speech", my plush and luscious ass.

Hit the Yellow Pages, kid, and pay someone to hold your hand and "tut tut, those heartless bastards" at you. I'm sure you'll find someone happy to take your money in exchange for telling you what you want to hear.

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Quoting azsexe1

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I was told by my husband to hang a sign on a wall on our property that said "stay off our roof and stop cutting our ****ing tree". My husband looked up cases before asking me to do this to make sure it was legal, he read cases on Cohen vs. California and Robert J Ekas.

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Did he also attend law school and pass the bar? You might be surprised at some of the crazy notions laypersons get from reading case law.

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Quoting azsexe1

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He found out although in may be unappropriated it is well within our 1st and 14th constitutional rights.

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You have a 14th Amendment right to use profanity in public? That would be... one of those crazy notions I just mentioned.

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Quoting azsexe1

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I hung the sign. 8 hours later a neighbor came to my door stating he ripped the sign down and then continued to yell and scream at me and my husband .

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What was he yelling? Something like, "My kids can see that sign"?

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Quoting azsexe1

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I called the police and asked that my neighbor be charged with destruction of property, theft and disorderly conduct. When the police showed up, they refused to arrest my neighbor and instead arrested me for disorderly conduct simply on the grounds of hanging a sign that says "****ing tree" on it. I am pleading an obvious not guilty.

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They arrested you, as in they handcuffed you, took you to the police station, had you post bail, etc., or they simply issued a citation? What is the exact statute you are charged with violating? Arizona Statutes, Sec. 13-2904(3) ("A person commits disorderly conduct if, with intent to disturb the peace or quiet of a neighborhood, family or person, or with knowledge of doing so, such person:... 3. Uses abusive or offensive language or gestures to any person present in a manner likely to provoke immediate physical retaliation by such person....")? That provision attempts to codify fighting words doctrine. See Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568 (1942). I question whether the sign would rise to the level of conduct necessary to avoid a reversal on appeal, should you be convicted, as to support a conviction the fighting words must create an actual threat of immediate violence, not merely present offensive content.

Note that, depending upon how much of a disturbance occurred after your neighbor confronted you, other provisions of ARS 13-2904 might apply to that confrontation.

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Quoting azsexe1

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Antigone, on the contrary, One mans profanity is another mans lyrics, We all have the right and we all need to test it . Otherwise we will loose it.

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Nobody "needs" to swear in public.

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Quoting azsexe1

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So we should just throw the 1968 landmark case of California VS Cohen out the window along with our civil rights?

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California vs. Cohen treated the epithet as falling outside of Chaplinsky's fighting words doctrine because no reasonable person could have believed that the expression was a direct personal insult. Would the police have been wrong if they inferred that your sign was specifically directed at your neighbor's household?

There is a time and place for everything.
There is a polite and considerate way to do things....and rude and impolite ways.

Did you ever think of POLITELY speaking to your neighbor about not cutting your tree? That if it's hanging on the neighbors property, you would prune it yourself? Did you think of politely asking your neighbor to stay off your roof?

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Quoting Antigone

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I guess it is okay for you to scream fire in a crowded theatre as well, huh

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You do realize the "Fire in a crowded theater" quote was from a SCOTUS ruling in favor of arresting a WWI anti-draft protestor right?