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Flasher gets off It may be a little thing, but I’ll take my good news where I can get it.
A Williamson County judge has dismissed a Franklin police citation against a man who warned other drivers of a speed trap.
He flashed his lights at them.
County Judge Russ Heldman yesterday ruled Walker was right about the citation violating his free speech guarantees.
The Franklin city police chief has now written a memo to officers, telling them not to cite drivers for flashing their lights in warning.
For his part, Walker is pleased to win his case, but says he’ll flash only his brights next time. He says the only way Marlowe knew he was flashing his lights was because his tail lights were going on and off.
Fight the power, brother!
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Check this out
This kind of case was also thrown out in Pittsburgh, PA. The cops were extremely pissed and rude. Case law seem to be pretty clear on this.
I do it.
Let me get this right. The police were trying to prosecute this guy for encouraging others to obey the speed limit temporarily?
They must believe the purpose of the law is to give them something to enforce. It’ll be “willfully failing to waste police time in a manner calculated to reduce their bullying satisfaction” next.
Does anyone appreciate the other way to read that headline – at least in US idioms?
Or am I just a dirty old man?
For the international crowd:
Flasher = person who exposes his genitals in public for perverse sexual reasons.
“Flasher” has the same meaning in Britain, John.
And to say that someone “gets off” can mean that they obtain sexual gratification.
Yes, the double entendre is a near ubiquitous source of comedy in Britain. People here are apt to snigger at even the feeblest attempts at innuendo. A classic British pastime is watching American stars being interviewed on British chatshows. The chatshow host fills the conversation with smutty innuendo and the audience falls about laughing, the comedy is enhanced by the inevitable looks of puzzlement on the face of the guest who cannot fathom what they are laughing at and persists in trying to answer absurd questions posed only because they are well known staples of British double entendre.
We are the country who gave the world Mrs Slocombe’s pussy after all.
No Guy the purpose of the speeding laws are to raise revenue. This gentleman was interfering in the police’s efforts to collect the tax on people wishing to drive at excessive speed even if those speeds are safe. Gerald Ford’s administration lowered the interstate speed limit in the ’70s to 55mph and it stayed that low for nearly twenty years, long after the gas shortage ended. Why? Because states and local municipalities refused to give up that cash cow even though everyone knew that interstate speed limits were artificially low. In the early eighties with the onset of MADD the states and the federal government took on drunk driving by using higher fines and stiffer sentences to curb the problem. Then a funny thing happened. Drunk driving arrests went down. As a matter of fact they went too far down. Fewer drunk driving arrests meant less income from fines. Why? Well some of the people who were being stopped had become somewhat more responsible and were not exceeding the .10 bac (blood alcohol) so the states simply changed the law and lowered the bac to .08 and what do you know DUI arrests went back up. Not only that but a great deal of states did away with the nolo contendre defense so everyone charged would need a LAWYER. A nice racket is what it is. If the state really wanted to end DUIs all they need to do is seize the license of everyone who is convicted for 3 years, a second offense and their license is revoked indefinitely. DUI’s would end but a lot of people would be out of work (drunks and cops both) and then wouldn’t pay income taxes and couldn’t afford health insuance, not to mention the loss of the fines the states get on second and third offenses. So the states are just about as far as they can go in bleeding the constituency white and giving lawyers jobs without cutting their own throats and damaging the hospitality industry in the process. After all the hospitality industry pays a shitload of taxes, insurance, and lawyers fees. Not to mention all the DUI business they send to the state. Like parasites killing the host is not good for business, but they sure as hell don’t mind gorging themselves.
the classic anglo-american double entendre occured on the johnny carson show back in the sixties. johnny was interviewing the late great peter cook, who was smoking like a chimney that night. johnny liked to smoke too, but he never smoked like cook was smoking; cook was lighting one cigarette with the still burning butt of his previous cigarette and he did it more than once. when johnny finally asked him about it, cook took a big puff and grandly announced to the american late night television audience, ” Yes, I’ve always got a fag in me mouth.” there was a moment of silence and then one of the biggest laughs in tv history, with poor peter cook looking around trying to figure out what just happened.
and harry’s right about speeding tickets; they are a form of taxation, pure and simple.
I agree. Speeding tickets are a form of taxation and a large profit center. They don’t really stop people from speeding.
Sincerely,
Daniel Jaffe
Arizona DUI Defense Lawyer
Studnicki, Jaffe & Woods, PLLC, Attorneys At Law
Scottsdale, Arizona
480-361-2444
http://www.duiarizona.com
http://www.azduiattorney.com