Protected profanity.

AuthorSullum, Jacob
PositionArtifact - Brief article

"FUCKYOUR SHITTYTOWN BITCHES," Willian Barboza wrote across the payment form he mailed to the town of Liberty, New York, after receiving a speeding ticket in 2012. For good measure, the 21-year-old Connecticut resident also crossed out Liberty and replaced it with "TYRANNY."

Five months later, as if to confirm that description, local police arrested Barboza for "aggravated harassment in the second degree"--a charge that was ultimately dismissed by a municipal judge who commented that "no citation is necessary for this Court to determine that the language under the circumstances here, offensive as it is, is protected" by the First Amendment. Last September a federal judge agreed, allowing Barboza's lawsuit against the town and a local prosecutor to proceed.

"Plaintiff's arrest violated his clearly established...

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