Is it legal to yell and/or curse at a cop?

Question

Just curious... if a cop were to pull you over, for example, and you knew you were getting a ticket so you said 'screw you, a**hole', is that legal? I mean, it should be with freedom of speech and all. I'm not looking for answers from the moral police, just people who know the actual law. And no, I did not get pulled over or anything. This is purely hypothetical. Thanks in advance for the answers =)

Good answers, but if you tell the guy walking down the street the same thing, it's not harassment. Why would it be different for a cop? They aren't above regular civilians, so it seems that anything I do or so concerning one of them is no different than what I do or say with anyone else.

Ok so what I'm gathering is that it IS legal but a cop will use his position of authority to 'punish' you for not respecting him/her in the way he or she desires... to serve and protect.

Answer 1

You can yell but using profanities in public can be illegal and you could be charged.

Answer 2

No it isn't legal, it's verbal assault and harassment. Most policeman however would ask you to refrain from using abusive language, you would get a warning about it first in almost all cases.

And on the same hand it's not legal to do it to others in public in most cities and towns. Using profanity and verbally harassing and verbally assaulting anyone in public is considered against the law in most places. Granted they are usually a lot of old laws that are still on the books but they are still the law.

It's just not worth it after all if you start to tear up and act sweet and apologetic you are much more likely to get a reminder to be more careful when speeding or whatever the traffic incident is instead of a ticket! Manners really do help in these situations :)

Remember cops are people too :) they put their *** on the line to protect us, I for one am glad they do so.

Answer 3

Consitiutionally, the government cannot ban speech unless there is a direct threat (fighting words doctrine). If the cop felt that he was under threat for some reason, he could go ahead and arrest you.

What is much more likely is that the cop will give you the maximum charges on your ticket and the judge will give you the maximum penalty if you act like that. Cops have a lot of discretion in what they want to charge you with, and pissing them off will not make them happy.

Answer 4

Only good cop is a dead cop, There crooked and would twist the law around in a heartbeat probably would make up some bs probable cause to take time

Answer 5

it is illegal, it is called disorderly conduct. look at it this way. if you went into Walmart and asked the price of a stereo and the guy told you "it's printed on the box you dum$^%&*" would you complain? or if the cop stopped you, walked up and said "well that was abou t FFFFing stupid", you would complain. so why wouldn't they have the same right to :"freedom of speech" if that is what it was about. no, it is obscene language, and where I live, they get a nice $194 ticket, and if they get madder, they get arrested and their car towed. I don't mind people fighting their speeding tickets in court, or saying it wasn't them. but it had better be politely, since I treat them with respect.

Answer 6

Well, I know a good friend who was starting to cross the street, when a little red mustang came charging around the corner and almost ran her down. She stuck her finger in the air to salute this stupidity, and he (an off-duty rookie) turned around and wrote her a two-hundred fifty dollar ticket for it. I asked her if it came under the catagory of 'dissin a cop', she didn't know, but had to pay it. So when these kind of jerks with no buisness being behind a badge confront me... I sure hope my little tape recorder is workin' on the dash.

Answer 7

Disorderly Conduct.
Lewd Public Behavior
Enciting a Riot

These are the charges that I thought of right away. There's probably more laws on the books that you would be violating. Plus, he can just keep writing tickets. After the speeding ticket, he can write another one for Highway Obstruction.

I would advise you to be polite and take the single ticket without pushing your already proven bad luck.

Answer 8

Of course it's legal, as long as you don't violate any obscenity laws or make terroristic threats. But before you do it, better make sure you fully understand the obscenity laws in your city, county and state. And you also better make sure that your car is in absolutely perfect condition, and that you broke no laws which caused the officer to pull you over in the first place.
A $50 speeding ticket can become a suspended license for reckless endangerment very easily...

Answer 9

No, but you just pissed away any chance of getting off with a warning.Any idiot would know enough to keep his mouth shut.
Screw witrh the police, he'll write you up for muddy tires.
There's freedom of speech, but there's also civil speech.

Answer 10

the US perfect courtroom ruled in this topic contained in terms of Chaplinski v. New Hampshire. The courtroom determined habit meant to impact isn't lined less than the first change. The courtroom's decision is likewise everyday as "The struggling with words Doctrine". The courtroom reported they anticipate an officer to have a extreme degree of tolerance for this habit, yet when there are others who witness the incident, you may want to be arrested. Chaplinski noted as the police "goddamn fascists" and become arrested for disorderly habit. because there become others round, the courtroom upheld the arrest. You suggested "i might want to tell them no longer to increase it in the different case its unlawful". the US perfect courtroom says your habit already is escalating, so that is illegitimate.

Answer 11

I'm pretty sure it's illegal but it shouldent be. It conflicts with freedom of speech and ive had cops swear at me and bang my head (hard) on the top of the roof of the cop car when im being taken to jail. There's alot of dirty cops where I live and I hate em.