Ny Disorderly Conduct Law Should Be Repealed
by King Law
America swears a lot. I swear more than i should. I think Beyonce got 55% of the swear words into her performance at the VMA’s. Swearing in Public is also a criminal violation known as “Disorderly Conduct.”
This entry is to propose a change to the Disorderly Conduct law. Disorderly conduct makes it a criminal violation punishable by up to 15 days in jail to swear in public. Is seems obvious to me that the law is rarely inforced. In my opinion laws that are rarely enforced should be taken off the books. Laws that are rarely enforced lead to injustices. How would you feel if tomorrow on your way to work you were pulled over for 46/45 – and the cop said “i know everyone else does it, but you don’t look very nice, so here’s you f-ing ticket.
That is exactly what is happening in the city of Rochester. Cops don’t like kids that don’t look right, or walk they way they think they should, so they get real close to them until the hear bitch, ass, shit or whatever – then they spring into action – cuff em, ruff em, search em and send em to court. They say they have probable cause to arrest for Disorderly Conduct. All of america is guilty of Disorderly Conduct, but it seems only young inner city youths are ever charged. Believe it or not the kids get upset about that, sometimes they argue back or tense their arms (resisting arrest) or kick the tire to the cop car (attempted criminal mischief) and they get arrested for a misdemeanor. This is not right.
In the past few month I have represented two people charged with Disorderly Conduct for swearing in public. Think about that- they said a swear word and someone heard it. Wow. I challenge you to walk down a busy street in any city in America. I bet you can’t go 6 minutes without hearing a swear word. How about an NFL football game – how many swear words will you hear in those 4 quarters. A LOT. For some reason only the inner city youth seemed to be forced to hire a criminal defense attorney, go to court and defend themself.
Thankfully most prosecutors and judges have figured out that these are crap arrests and treat them as such. The bigger problem is when someone is the victim of a crappy arrest and then they do something they wish they didn’t like punch the cop. Punching a cop rarely works out well for the defendant, on the street or in court.
The moral of the story is if we get rid of this dumb law it will save a lot of people a big pain in the neck and less cops will get punched. Seems like a win – win. Disorderly Conduct is an unfairly applied law that covers common actions and should be eliminated.
If you have been arrested for any criminal offense, contact our Rochester criminal defense lawyer today.
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