The Great Game

One of the purposes of courts is to restrain police power. Here is an example; it's more amusing if you imagine how the writer has sanitized what the kid said.

Jax

A teen who shouted obscenities at a police officer was exercising his right to free speech, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.

The three-judge panel voted unanimously, although reluctantly, yesterday to overturn the youth's juvenile conviction for disorderly conduct, ruling that his comments in reaction to the officer's treatment of his companion were protected political speech.

"Although we do not agree with the manner in which U.M. conducted himself ... U.M. was expressing himself regarding the legality and appropriateness of police conduct toward his companion," Senior Judge George B. Hoffman Jr. wrote in the order, In the Matter of U.M. v. State of Indiana, reversing the youth's adjudication in Marion Superior Court.

According to court documents, an Indianapolis police officer responding to a report of youths spray-painting graffiti on a garage found two teens in the back seat of a car. He ordered them to hold up their hands.

One of the youths did not keep his hands up, and the other then yelled a profanity at the officer and told him that his companion could not lift his hands because his arms hurt. When police removed them from the car, the youth continued yelling profanities and accused police of racism.

The teen argued, and the appeals court agreed that he could not be charged with disorderly conduct for commenting on the officer's behavior because it was criticism of a government official and protected under the Indiana Constitution's free-speech provision, which is modeled on the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. Jax: I love this sentence.

The state argued that the youth had abused his right of free speech, but the court said his comments only annoyed police and did not cause real harm. (Link)