Flashing a middle finger against a police officer is constitutionally protected.
A federal court judge decided the citation issued was not for blocking traffic as the city contended, but in retaliation for Hackbart's rude salute.Judge David Cercone found the police response was a violation of Hackbart's free speech rights under the First Amendment and a violation of his right to be free of unreasonable search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment.
USA! USA! USA!
I highly recommend you NOT test the application of this ruling in New York City against the NYPD unless you want to get uncomfortably close to either a plunger or a walkie-talkie antenna.
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