by Judy Lin, Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Erica Upshaw was having one of those days.
School had just let out and the mother-of-three was rushing a load of groceries to her sister’s house when she was pulled over by an officer who said she made an incomplete stop.
When a police officer told her that her driver’s license was suspended, Upshaw used a curse word to describe her day to that point. She ended up in jail for her choice of words.
“It was so humiliating,” said Upshaw, 28. As it happens, Upshaw’s suspension was due to a computer glitch and nothing more.
The American Civil Liberties Union last week filed two lawsuits, one on behalf of Upshaw, against two Pittsburgh-area police departments accusing officers of violating Upshaw’s right to free speech.
The lawsuits are intended to warn police across the nation they should not arrest people simply because they don’t like someone’s language, said Witold Walczak, executive director of the ACLU’s Pittsburgh chapter. He said officers need to realize they create tremendous stress on people and should expect emotions to spill out.
Police dismiss the charge that disorderly conduct laws are being misused, saying officers are simply trying to do their job. Officers may feel it’s necessary to arrest someone on a minor charge to prevent the person from committing more serious crimes, said Jim Pasco, executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police.
“The police don’t write the laws, they don’t prosecute the laws, they just enforce the laws,” said Pasco. “Perhaps they (the ACLU) would address changing the law rather than harassing the police.”
The ACLU’s initiative stems from a 1996 class-action lawsuit against Pittsburgh police over alleged widespread abuse and misconduct. Walczak said at least a dozen of those complaints involved profanity arrests.
The police department agreed to federal oversight and the city agreed to settle 32 lawsuits for a total of $275,000 last month.
The ACLU said it was receiving five or six complaints a year from western Pennsylvanians who were arrested for swearing, said Walczak. Upshaw’s arrest on July 15, 2000, by the North Braddock police was one of them.
Most municipalities have some provision that allows police to arrest rowdy individuals, said Pasco. An extreme case involved Timothy Boomer, who was convicted three years ago of violating Michigan’s 102-year-old ban on public profanity for cursing in front of children after falling from a canoe.
In Pennsylvania, a disorderly conduct statute makes it a crime to use obscene language, though the courts say the provision applies to sexually obscene speech, Walczak said.
For Upshaw, foul language resulted in an afternoon in jail and having her car impounded.
“They were really hostile,” said Upshaw. “They didn’t want to tell me where my car was.”
Later, it was discovered that a computer glitch caused her driver’s license to come up suspended and Upshaw’s disorderly conduct charge was dismissed.
“I just want to let other people know,” Upshaw said. “Maybe police are misusing their power or they’re just not sure of the law.”
The ACLU’s second lawsuit stems from the arrest of Amy Johnson, 27, a Chatham University student, and Gregory Lagrosa, 29, a University of Pittsburgh student. According to the suit, Johnson swore at a passing Homestead police patrol car.
Johnson claims in the suit that the car came dangerously close to the couple as they walked through a crosswalk.
Their charges were subsequently dismissed.
Homestead Mayor Betty Esper is standing firmly by the town’s officers, who handle approximately 900 calls a month. She says preventing officers from making arrests could have an adverse effect on society, particularly in teaching children about manners.
“If every kid can tell officers to go to hell and if police officers go break up a fight, can the kids say go stuff yourself?” Esper asked.