You might wonder whether insulting a police officer who is performing his or her duty is a crime in and of itself. I'm not a lawyer but have wondered this myself several times and have looked up several cased which were defended by DUI Defense Lawyers. It seems that, from I can find on Google, the law regarding berating the officer generally varies from state to state but most states have some laws on the books regarding this issue. Many dui defense lawyers have successfully argued that it is within their client's rights to use expletives directed at the dui stopping officer due to the freedom of speech clause present in the U.S. Constitution as well as most state versions. Many states and and counties or municipalities have indeed upheld this notion, that a person does have the right to berate the officer during a typical dui stop, regardless of what crimes the person may be cited for. Do you feel that this should be legal? Furthermore, where is the cutoff point on the language? I did find that some states grant the right to curse at the officer but it can sometimes depend on the level of profanity used.
Some states, however, seem to draw the line between freedom of speech and disrespect toward the officer during a dui stop. Many dwi defense attorneys have tried but failed to win the freedom of speech argument in cases when the level of profanity that their client used was just too severe. I would not personally advise that you employ such tactics should you get stopped for dui or dwi.
So, what I take away from this is that although many people feel that they are within their rights to curse and, even during a dui stop, to berate the inquiring officer, there have been some dui defense lawyers who have cited cases that did not uphold the freedom of speech clause because the person went too far in their criticism. Many dwi lawyers were able to show that their client's words were not personal nor did they rise above the level of normal freedom of speech. Other dui attorney's, however, were not able to show their client's words to be within the accepted level of freedom of speech, but it was found instead by the court that the words spoken rose to the level of "fighting words" or personally vindictive enough to disallow their usage and immunity.
Let's look at this from the officer's point of view: He or she is stopping you and now suspects that you may be driving under the influence of alcohol or other drug, and now on top of that you are criticizing them and questioning their ancestry or their mother's wholesomeness. This does not help your case nor does it tend to endear you to the officer. Too many people forget that police officer's are human beings, not robots, and they should be treated with MORE respect, not less. Not only will you not be helping yourself, but you will most likely make the officer want to give you the breathalizer test even more than before. The best thing to do is number one, not to drive if you have been drinking and secondly, if you do get stopped after having a few alcoholic beverages, then by all means please please do not insult the officer. A good DUI defense Lawyer can still make a good case or plea bargain for you, but the ultimate easy way out is to just be respectful and to tell the truth.
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