Man sues after "POLICE" t-shirt arrest
We read:
"A Belleville Police officer arrested a St. Charles man for wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the word "POLICE." Now, Adam C. Weinstein, of St. Charles, has sued the department for what he calls a violation of his constitutional rights.
According to police documents, Weinstein was arrested in 2006 outside a bar in Belleville for "impersonating officers." He was wearing a black t-shirt with the word police striped across the front and back under a sweater. The t-shirt became exposed when he removed the sweater because he was hot....
Weinstein was ticketed for impersonating a police officer, but it was later dismissed. The ticket only alleges Weinstein wore the t-shirt.
Weinstein said he bought two of the shirts--one for him, one for his wife--at Leon's Uniform Company in St. Louis while buying supplies for firefighting. The lawsuit was filed last week in St. Clair County. Vernatti and the city of Bellevile are named as defendents.
Steven Beckett, professor and director of trial advocacy at the University of Illinois' law school, said the arrest may be a violation of Weinstein's First Amendment rights. "A t-shirt alone isn't enough to arrest someone," Beckett said. "There must be some overt act." Beckett added: "The police complaint on its face is inconsistent with the First Amendment."
Source
If the shirt was likely to mislead, it would certainly not have free speech protection.
6 comments:
And the guy didn't think there was going to be a problem when he bought the shirts at a "Uniform" store?
"A t-shirt alone isn't enough to arrest someone,"
No it isn't, but we're not talking about arresting someone. What we are talking about is creating an impression and conveying a message to the public that the wearer is an authority figure.
If you were to put on a police uniform and simply stand on a street corner, without saying or doing anything, the public would be right to assume you are in fact, a police officer and you would be guilty of impersonating, which is a felony. You can bet Mr. Weinstein knew full-well what he was doing when he bought the shirt, especially since he bought it in a uniform store!
So he's going to sue? His last name should've told you that was coming.
There is no law against just wearing a police uniform. Which is why he was sold the T-shirt.
Its the identifying patches and badges that are illegal even to possess.
I tried to buy a F.B.I. labeled baseball cap in a New Jersey Uniform supply store and they refused to sell it to me because I could not produce credentials that I was an F.B.I. employee.
However, when I was flying from Newark International airport I bought the exact same cap in an airport souvenirs shop. No problem at all.
Some time ago, I was in a shooting school and there was one guy from some Mexican law enforcement group there. Well in the Fun House (a phony house to be searched) the Mexican Law Enforcement guy shot a cardboard guy with the word “Police” on it. When asked why, he said that the shirt said Police, not “Policia” on it
The other Mobius
Maybe he was trying to commit suicide, thought some gang banger would take a shot at him.
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