Argumentative Essay: Rudeness And Racial Profiling

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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 …show more content…

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 …show more content…

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

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