Argumentative Essay: Rudeness And Racial Profiling

Rudeness is not a crime. Nevertheless, many people have found themselves in handcuffs simply for being rude to or shouting profanities at a police officer. But should mouthing-off to a cop get you arrested?

Unless you are threatening the police officer or are using “fighting words” to incite a violent response, the answer is no.

Your First Amendment Right to Be Rude

The First Amendment’s protection of free speech, while not absolute, allows citizens to express themselves to police officers even if that expression is rude, insulting, profane, obnoxious, or verbally abusive. As the U.S. Supreme Court noted, "[t]he freedom of individuals verbally to oppose or challenge police action without thereby risking arrest is one of the principal characteristics by which we distinguish a free nation from a police state." City of Houston v. Hill, 482 U.S. 451, 462 (1987).

Following that logic, courts

across the country have thrown own charges or overturned convictions that were based on nothing more than the fact that the accused was saying things to the officer that they did not like.
A June 2015 decision by the Supreme Court of Washington state is a prime example. A teenager was arrested and ultimately convicted for obstruction after he yelled at an officer who was trying to arrest and appeared to be abusive toward his sister. While the teen refused to stop watching the officer’s conduct as he was ordered to and continued to yell at the officer (including calling him a “m---f---er)”, he in no way physically interfered with the officer’s performance of his duties.
The Court overturned the conviction, stating that:
“First Amendment values have occupied a crucial place in shaping our democracy. Cases have consistently and strongly held that people cannot be held liable when exercising their right to speak. While [defendant’s] words may have been disrespectful, discourteous, and annoying, they are nonetheless constitutionally protected.”
State v. E.J.J., No. 88694-6 (Wash. Jun 25, 2015)
Just Because You Shouldn’t Be Arrested Doesn’t Mean That You Won’t
In this case, as in many others, the ultimate vindication of the accused for exercising their First Amendment rights came only after they were wrongfully arrested, charged, or convicted of a crime.

Just because you shouldn’t be arrested for expressing your “disrespectful, discourteous, and annoying” words and opinions towards an officer doesn’t mean he or she still won’t arrest you for doing so. You may recall that the tragic arrest of Sandra Bland in Texas only came after the officer perceived her as being disrespectful. And just because you have the right to mouth-off to a cop doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do in a given

situation.
“Fighting Words” Are Not Protected
Additionally, if the things you say to an officer are considered “fighting words,” they are not protected by the First Amendment.

The U.S. Supreme Court has defined “fighting words” as words "which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace” and are words that are "likely to cause an average addressee to fight." Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568, 572

(1942).
Whether what you say at will actually be considered “fighting words” in a given case is difficult to determine in the abstract. But it can’t simply be something that is insulting or might make the officer angry. For example, as The Marshall Project points out, calling an officer an “a--hole” has been found by multiple courts not to be “fighting words.”
Flipping the Bird is Not a Crime
Of course, words aren’t the only way we can express our displeasure with someone else. Courts have also recognized that “flipping the bird” at police officers is protected speech that cannot be the basis of an arrest for disorderly conduct, breach of the peace, or similar offenses.
As citizens, we have the right under the Constitution to express ourselves to police officers, including doing so angrily, loudly, and critically. While properly trained police should have an understanding of this right, the reality is that many people will continue to be wrongfully arrested simply for bruising an officer’s ego.
If you have questions or concerns about your treatment by police, please give us a call.