Illegal To Insult Cops?

[Twilight Hue]

Even if the charge doesn't stick, just the
threat of arrest for possibly offending a
cop is very anti free speech.

Have you noticed the undertones as well?

No public assistance for three months. Makes one wonder just who the targeted demographic is here.

 

[Earthtank]

I'm beginning to think that what we could use a
law punishing cops for insulting civilians.
It's reasonable to expect a higher standard of
behavior from them.

Agreed but, the article and post was about insulting cops. Better laws are 100% needed for cops but, that's off topic.

It's about the right to be able to.

Understood and like I said, the cops have the right to react. Whether that's right or wrong is not for me to decide.

 

[Revoltingest]

Agreed but, the article and post was about insulting cops. Better laws are 100% needed for cops but, that's off topic.

I had the OP's permission to post that digression.

Understood and like I said, the cops have the right to react. Whether that's right or wrong is not for me to decide.

Cops' reactions should be more controlled
than they currently are.

 

[Lyndon]

It appears so in the article (if accurate).
Excerpted....
CBS News also reached out to the staff of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat.

Carroll told the Louisville Courier-Journal that the bill is a response to riots that broke out in many cities across the country last summer. Louisville was an epicenter for racial justice protests due to the death of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman killed in March 2020 during a raid of her home by Louisville police officers.

"This country was built on lawful protest, and it's something that we must maintain — our citizens' right to do so," Carroll told the Courier-Journal. "What this deals with are those who cross the line and commit criminal acts."

You seem to have the mistaken idea that this bill was sponsored by Democrats, the Kentucky legislature is Republican and the Governor has nothing to do with it.

 

[Revoltingest]

You seem to have the delusion....

Nothing good ever starts out that way.

 

[Stevicus]

In the news....
Kentucky bill would make it a crime to insult a police officer
Excerpted....
A bill moving through Kentucky's Senate would make it a crime to insult or taunt a police officer during a riot. Supporters say the bill targets people who unlawfully "cross the line" but opponents call it a blatant attempt to crush protests and a violation of First Amendment rights.

Senate Bill 211 mandates up to three months' imprisonment for a person who "accosts, insults, taunts, or challenges a law enforcement officer with offensive or derisive words," or makes "gestures or other physical contact that would have a direct tendency to provoke a violent response from the perspective of a reasonable and prudent person."

A person convicted of this misdemeanor charge could also face a $250 fine and be disqualified from public assistance benefits for three months.

I guess that could curtail peaceful protests. If someone is going to go to jail anyway, might as well go for broke.

 

[Earthtank]

You seem to have the delusion that this bill was sponsored by Democrats, the Kentucky legislature is Republican and the Governor has nothing to do with it.

Why does it matter if it's reps or dems? If its good then its good no matter which corrupt party. If its bad then its bad no matter which corrupt party

 

[Earthtank]

I had the OP's permission to post that digression.

Smells like collusion to me

 

[Valjean]

It appears so in the article (if accurate).
Excerpted....
CBS News also reached out to the staff of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat.

Carroll told the Louisville Courier-Journal that the bill is a response to riots that broke out in many cities across the country last summer. Louisville was an epicenter for racial justice protests due to the death of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman killed in March 2020 during a raid of her home by Louisville police officers.

"This country was built on lawful protest, and it's something that we must maintain — our citizens' right to do so," Carroll told the Courier-Journal. "What this deals with are those who cross the line and commit criminal acts."

And they're only criminal acts because this law declares them so.

 

[blü 2]

In the news....
Kentucky bill would make it a crime to insult a police officer
Excerpted....
A bill moving through Kentucky's Senate would make it a crime to insult or taunt a police officer during a riot. Supporters say the bill targets people who unlawfully "cross the line" but opponents call it a blatant attempt to crush protests and a violation of First Amendment rights.

Senate Bill 211 mandates up to three months' imprisonment for a person who "accosts, insults, taunts, or challenges a law enforcement officer with offensive or derisive words," or makes "gestures or other physical contact that would have a direct tendency to provoke a violent response from the perspective of a reasonable and prudent person."

A person convicted of this misdemeanor charge could also face a $250 fine and be disqualified from public assistance benefits for three months.

The whole idea appears to be that the police are dainty in their sensitivities when facing rioters. Shows you what I don't know about Kentucky!

And I assume the law applies equally to the police as to the rioters?

(Either way, that Freedom of Speech argument will be interesting.)

 

[Heyo]

In the news....
Kentucky bill would make it a crime to insult a police officer
Excerpted....
A bill moving through Kentucky's Senate would make it a crime to insult or taunt a police officer during a riot. Supporters say the bill targets people who unlawfully "cross the line" but opponents call it a blatant attempt to crush protests and a violation of First Amendment rights.

Senate Bill 211 mandates up to three months' imprisonment for a person who "accosts, insults, taunts, or challenges a law enforcement officer with offensive or derisive words," or makes "gestures or other physical contact that would have a direct tendency to provoke a violent response from the perspective of a reasonable and prudent person."

A person convicted of this misdemeanor charge could also face a $250 fine and be disqualified from public assistance benefits for three months.

A law is "You can't do X". The moment it is phrased as "<Group A> can/can't do X" or "You can't do X to <Group B>" it's a privilege (private law).
I propose the US adds an 28th amendment before proposing more of these bills:
"Some animals are more equal than others."

 

[Valjean]

Some people have been reading China's laws and what they're doing in Hong Kong and decided that the USA should follow where China leads.

It reminds me of Afghan or Pakistani anti blasphemy laws. Woe betide anyone perceived as disrespecting Islam or the prophet.

 

[Valjean]

So

Agreed but, the article and post was about insulting cops. Better laws are 100% needed for cops but, that's off topic.



Understood and like I said, the cops have the right to react. Whether that's right or wrong is not for me to decide.

So who's to decide? They're your employees, after all. They're supposed to be protecting and serving, not controlling or intimidating.

 

[Valjean]

In my experience it takes very little to offend a cop. They're authoritarians. They see the public as potential threats -- and likely armed. They expect submission. Even asking a question can set them off.

 

[icehorse]

I see no positive effects for this bill, but
great possibility for chilling legal speech.

Hey @Revoltingest ! I agree with everything you said!

 

[Earthtank]

They're your employees, after all

uhh no they are not. That's like saying the president is your employee. Just because our tax dollars pay for their services and salaries does not mean you are their personal employer. Man, I would love to see you argue with a cop using that logic lol

They're supposed to be protecting and serving

Yeah and you think insulting them is going to help them do that?

 

[Twilight Hue]

In my experience it takes very little to offend a cop. They're authoritarians. They see the public as potential threats -- and likely armed. They expect submission. Even asking a question can set them off.

It's too much power for one person. Too many Cops get off on being an authority. It's a God complex.

To illustrate just how bad and totalitarian this Bill is, imagine expanding that onto all authority figures, not just judges or cops. What if it's expanded to going to jail and fined for insulting a politician? Insulting an elected official?

Just about half of RF would be imprisoned now. *yikes*

I would beseech those still free and at large to send bar cutters inside cakes for the prisoner's.

 

[Twilight Hue]

So

So who's to decide? They're your employees, after all. They're supposed to be protecting and serving, not controlling or intimidating.

I'm convinced that's just propaganda now to dupe the public into thinking they are in control.

 

[Twilight Hue]

In the news....
Kentucky bill would make it a crime to insult a police officer
Excerpted....
A bill moving through Kentucky's Senate would make it a crime to insult or taunt a police officer during a riot. Supporters say the bill targets people who unlawfully "cross the line" but opponents call it a blatant attempt to crush protests and a violation of First Amendment rights.

Senate Bill 211 mandates up to three months' imprisonment for a person who "accosts, insults, taunts, or challenges a law enforcement officer with offensive or derisive words," or makes "gestures or other physical contact that would have a direct tendency to provoke a violent response from the perspective of a reasonable and prudent person."

A person convicted of this misdemeanor charge could also face a $250 fine and be disqualified from public assistance benefits for three months.

Imagine if that included prison guards.

You could keep a person in the klink for life.

 

[Kooky]

uhh no they are not. That's like saying the president is your employee. Just because our tax dollars pay for their services and salaries does not mean you are their personal employer. Man, I would love to see you argue with a cop using that logic lol



Yeah and you think insulting them is going to help them do that?

Indeed, serfs paid their lord in goods and service, but their lord was not their employee, either.
One could even frame it as a ruling bureaucracy extracting resources from its subjects.

So who's to decide? They're your employees, after all. They're supposed to be protecting and serving, not controlling or intimidating.

Oh, the police has always protected and served certain classes of society, it just generally does not protect and serve the poor and in some cases, not even the majority population.