The Professor and the Cop

Commentary By Ron Beasley

Obama has been criticized for his statement that  Sgt. James Crowley did something stupid when he arrested Professor Henry Louis Gates.  Obama has been forced to back track and the right wing has been quick to scream racists.  Radley Balko was the first to suggest that we were missing the point - Sgt. Crowley's actions were not just stupid they were illegal.

By any account of what happened�Gates', Crowleys', or some version in between�Gates should never have been arrested. "Contempt of cop," as it's sometimes called, isn't a crime. Or at least it shouldn't be. It may be impolite, but mouthing off to police is protected speech, all the more so if your anger and insults are related to a perceived violation of your rights. The "disorderly conduct" charge for which Gates was arrested was intended to prevent riots, not to prevent cops from enduring insults. Crowley is owed an apology for being portrayed as a racist, but he ought to be disciplined for making a wrongful arrest.

Well Balko is not alone and Gates is getting some support from unlikely places.  The first is FOX News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano:

Boy that must have driven the wingnut bigots over the edge.  They will be screaming for his head along with that of Shep Smith. 

In addition Harvey A. Silverglate writing in the liberal rag Forbes reminds us there is First Amendment right to be rude to a cop.

By longstanding but unfortunate (and, in my view, clearly unconstitutional) practice in Cambridge and across the country, the charge of disorderly conduct is frequently lodged when the citizen restricts his response to the officer to mere verbal unpleasantness. (When the citizen gets physically unruly, the charge is upgraded to resisting arrest or assault and battery on an officer.) It would appear, from the available evidence--regardless of whether Gates' version or that of Officer Crowley is accepted--that Gates was arrested for saying, or perhaps yelling, things to Crowley that the sergeant did not want to hear.

 ......

This gets us to the heart of the matter. Under well-established First Amendment jurisprudence, what Gates said to Crowley--even assuming the worst--is fully constitutionally protected. After all, even "offensive" speech is covered by the First Amendment's very broad umbrella. Think about it: We wouldn't even need a First Amendment if everyone restricted himself or herself to soothing platitudes. I've been doing First Amendment law for a long time and I've never had to represent someone for praising a police officer or other public official. It is those who burn the flag, not those who wave it, who need protection.

Go read the entire thing.

Perhaps Crowley deserves an apology for being labeled but what he did was not only stupid it was illegal.

I think we know why the charges against Gates were dropped like a hot patato - it was Crowely who broke the law not Gates.