Gaston Scoop

The thin blue line provides no protection from a blue streak.

The South Dakota Supreme Court has ruled that a man’s vulgar tirade against a Brookings, S.D. police officer was protected speech under the First Amendment. The man was charged with disorderly conduct after he shouted profanities at a passing patrol car.

Justices found that Marcus J. Suhn’s foulmouthed jeering didn’t cross the threshold of “fighting words,” which are not protected by the Constitution.

Late last year, Gastonia Police charged a man with disorderly conduct by abusive language after he said “This is (B.S.)” when he and his friends were ordered to get on their knees. Police were investigating a noise complaint at the man’s friend’s house.

While it’s never advisable to cuss out a cop, using a vulgar word to express disagreement is — in most cases — protected by the Constitution, legal experts at the First Amendment Center and American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina told The Gazette.

We should mind our tempers and watch our mouths, but salty language should never be enough to land you in the pokey.

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