Tracym

It would never have occurred to me not to give an officer an ID when asked. As I said, as a licensed driver, I tend to have one on me. So not a big deal imo.

I would find it odd if I was out for a walk to have it be a big problem though...

jumping doris

There was something in the Pittsburgh Post gazette yesterday about the same thing. The police have been issuing citations if they hear someone swearing and or giving someone else an inappropriate hand signal.

I can't find the article but I think that the upshot was that the police need to tone it down a bit.
Now I feel I need to drive everywhere with a smile pasted to my face and just think bad words instead of saying them.

augigi

How can you plead "not guilty" to failure to produce ID, when in fact she did fail to produce ID? The reason for failing to do so is not the issue, surely.

What is her immigration status?

ainmana

She is a permanent resident. She didn't produce ID because she didn't have one. She was sleeping at home, got up, felt thirsty and went to get a soda from the deli around the corner. So didn't have an ID.
She did utter a bad word, but it was because the cell-phone wasn't working and before she knew it the cops jumped down her back and written out three citations. It was very weird and very surreal -- and yes, now she walks around with a fake smile and doesn't even talk in public.

Thank you Jumping Doris for the info. on the post. She is due in court soon -- and we hope to use that information.

anabella

I knew you were referring to yourself! I'm quite shocked to see that swearing out loud, with nobody else involved, can be a criminal offense ... keep us updated on the outcome, I hope this doesn't affect your status here...

anabella

Damn, you changed it just before I quoted you...

Tracym

I think we all believe you

MsElui

i find it incredulous that in this day and age a person feels the need to have a 'friend' with an issue on an already anon. forum. If they would just fess up it would make life far far easier as we would know the answers were more accurate and not just reported hearsay from the 'friend'. Half the time the replies are trying to clarify things and this just make sit all so complicated. We dont care who you are or what you did- but if you want our help please dont complicate it unnecessarily.

Tracym

Good point.

pejpm1

It doesnt make any difference whatsoever.

OiOi

nothing gets by Mslui

Ray

She is a pregnant women ..do not say anyway

MsElui

lol!

all i mean is we have seen and heard an awful lot worse on here than simply being unfortunate ehough to be overheard swearing in the street. The first that springs to mind is the guy questioning whether being caught and convicted of jerking off in his car in a public street was a crime of moral turpitude or not. We dont know where he lives or what his name was or anything - but he at least came and told the story straight - gave a first hand 'accurate' account of the scenario and answered the questions we posed to get to the bottom of the issue. All the shillyshallying around just clouds the issue - and the readers end up doubting if the words they read are truely accurate as its always ' my friend said...' If we knew the accuracy was first hand it makes it easier to delve and get to the crux of the issues involved.

ainmana

Dear Friends:
Just an update, my friend's case was dismissed this morning!! The judge said that the police had no legal right to stop her and the other charges of not producing an ID and not obeying "lawful order" just did not hold as they did not have a right to detain her in the first place. He and the public defender were really nice and restored our faith in the legal system -- this pending court date had been a nightmare for 2 months.
This is great news as there have been cases where people have been convicted and it goes on the record.

Also I did not mention earlier, on the day of the incident my friend was also handcuffed, taken to the precinct, searched and made to sit in a lock-up for half an hour. She is a decent educated person who just said a bad word because she had lost her job and found out her father may pass away. It's lucky she just cursed and didn't kill anyone with that pressure. She did apologize to the police officers, explained she hadn't meant it for them and the stress she was under. They did not seem to care and handcuffed her after humiliating her in her neighborhood. All the time one had the gall to complain his pizza was getting cold and how she was keeping him from eating. And the other, a pimply-faced lad, blared Kid Rock songs on his radio on the way to the station. They were both rookie cops who seemed to be carried away with their new-found power. I have met many seasoned New York City cops who have been absolutely wonderful and provided much-needed safety and security, but the young ones seem to get too carried away. Even at the staion they loped around not really knowing what to do and asking the sarge how to fill out the summons. Again, I think it was either just a matter of meeting their quota or asserting their newly-discovered power.

I will post more details later. The article that Jumping Doris referred to in the Pittsburgh Post says that a person's right to curse even if it directed at a police officer is protected under the First Amendement. I will write more later on the courthouse and try to include more research on this topic or just summons in general.


And for Ms Elui or whatever the name is, if you were more Internet savvy or had more of a legal background you would know there is no such thing as "anon" on the Internet. Maybe people don't want to identify themselves for legal reasons -- they are in the middle of a trial, or maybe they are planning a counter-lawsuit. Anon on the Internet is a mere illusion.
My friend used to post under her name and several lawyers and police officers advised her to do otherwise on issues pending in court.
And to the person who said it doesn't matter, thank you. I think we can all learn from this incident, whatever "person" it's in especially since our lives in a new country can sometimes become so precarious.

Sarapat

Ms Lui why are you so catty? I was interested in this thread but because of drivel like yours I lost track following it. I am glad that person posted an update separately to let us know there was something substantive to this issue because otherwise I would have just thought this thread had become useless and just full of bitchy comments like yours.

The admin has now closed the new thread but I would appeal to people out there that many of come to this forum to genuinely learn something and not to clutter up the forums with useless bitchy remarks simply because you are bored and lonely.