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Top scholar Gates arrested in Mass., claims racism

Under Massachusetts law, protesters can block the exit road to a Air Force Base with their car and interfere repeatedly with tow trucks trying to move the cars and still not commit the offense of disorderly conduct.




Really? You mean they can legally impede the progress of others?


Seems like another poster who likes to make it up as he goes along. :lol:
 
I'll take his word over yours.
Even if you take everything Crowley wrote in his report to be true, he still didn't have probable cause that Gates committed disorderly conduct by engaging in tumultuous behavior that caused public alarm.

Crowley's report doesn't claim that that the loud accusations directed at him by Gates constituted a threat of violence.

Crowley's claim that some citizens appeared to be alarmed by Gates' behavior - without providing the identities or descriptions of the citizens and how they expressed alarm - was insufficient to establish probable cause that Gates caused public alarm and to justify the filing of an information.
 
.....Says the guy who runs around on the internet making up laws based on his lack of ability to understand court decisions (see above) and who also runs around calling cops dumb on the internetsss.

There was probable cause. YOU need to learn the case law on disorderly conduct.
Shine on, my friend, shine on.
 
Being angry and yelling at someone, even if that person is a police officer, is not sufficient cause to sustain a disorderly conduct charge. You are absolutely permitted to express yourself and your first amendment rights to free speech.
 
The stilted language in the Gates police report is intended to mirror the courts' awkward phrasing, but the state could never make the charge stick. The law is aimed not at mere irascibility but rather at unruly behavior likely to set off wider unrest. Accordingly, the behavior must take place in public or on private property where people tend to gather. While the police allege that a crowd had formed outside Gates' property, it is rare to see a disorderly conduct conviction for behavior on the suspect's own front porch. In addition, political speech is excluded from the statute because of the First Amendment. Alleging racial bias, as Gates was doing, and protesting arrest both represent core political speech.

--Carol Rose and Sarah Wunsch of the ACLU of Massachusetts​
 
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Thanks, but you should warn people that they are going to add a "hit" to the huffington post website if they click the link. I feel soiled.
 
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