Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Arkansas

Is it a violation of my rights

Is it a violation of my rights if an officer threatens to arrest me for disorderly conduct for saying ''Jesus Christ'' and then asks me to step out of the car? If so what can I do, because i went through a lot of emotional distress over this.


Asked on 12/25/06, 10:18 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: Is it a violation of my rights

The answer depends upon how you said it and in what context.

Disorderly conduct can be committed verbally, and almost anything can be said in a way that would qualify under the right circumstances. To take just one example, if you were yelling at the top of your lungs in a residential neighborhood in the middle of the night then arresting you would have been justified.

If you think restrictions that apply to the way people say other things somehow can't be applied to saying the names of important religious figures then you're mistaken.

Besides, you say only that you were "threatened" with arrest and not that you were actually arrested. I don't see what kind of claim you could make under these circumstances.

As always, though, with additional facts I might see things differently.

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Answered on 12/25/06, 11:33 pm


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