This is what despots do. They arrest people for protesting. This woman honked her horn in criticism of a California politician and got arrested for it. Now it’s going to SCOTUS.
Categories: Police Statetyranny
This is what despots do. They arrest people for protesting. This woman honked her horn in criticism of a California politician and got arrested for it. Now it’s going to SCOTUS.
12 Comments
Scotty · November 17, 2023 at 11:01 am
How the heck do people not know there’s a law against this? It’s in the damn driver’s education manual and there’s always people catching tickets for violations making the news
Divemedic · November 17, 2023 at 2:47 pm
I dont give a rats ass if there is a law against it. Honking to support a political cause is the definition of speech.
Scotty · November 17, 2023 at 8:34 pm
The auspices are that your horn is purely for communication with other drivers, especially warnings. To use it for other things dilutes it’s value as a safety device to warn other drivers. As long as the law is on the books, all it takes is some D.A. or jumped up cop to make your day shit. But it’s still a law, and her dumb ass is reasonably expected to know that or she/you shouldn’t have a license to operate a motor vehicle on public streets
Divemedic · November 17, 2023 at 9:06 pm
So where does all government power come from? For bonus points, what happens when a law is in conflict with the document that grants the government that power?
Beans · November 17, 2023 at 10:33 pm
What happens? The illegal law wins over the Federal Constitution and Bill of Rights, and over the individual state’s Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Every time.
Scotty · November 18, 2023 at 7:02 am
Means, place, and time restrictions.
SCOTUS has previous ruled that the government in fact can limit the means of your speech, the places of your speech, and the time in which you can speak. It sucks ass, but they also have taken a shot on the fourth, fifth, and sixth amendments also.
Ergo, honking your horn is not unlimited free speech: they can/could deem that a safety device on your car is not meant for any other useage other than communication with other driver’s (means). Or they can limit usages therein to not any other time other than to communicate with other driver’s in an emergency or panic situation (means and time). Or honking your horn while driving is only to be used for communication with other driver’s; but possibly when stationary and parked it could be used otherwise (means, place, and time).
However, again, as long as the law is the law in 41 states and every driver over the age of 16 has read the driver’s education manual and allegedly passed the tests, the expectation that you are supposed to know it’s against the law is reasonable. And that a DA or Police officer with a want to fuck with you has that option should you openly violate their petty law
Don’t like the law? Make it not a law anymore
Divemedic · November 18, 2023 at 10:06 am
Oh, but here is where you are wrong. You see, the vehicle horn is an expression of political speech. For example, Biden’s political rallies during 2020 were largely held in cars, and he extolled people to honk in support of his ideas.
When the 2020 election was over, media outlets were reporting that, from California to Washington DC, supporters of Joe Biden took to the streets, banging pots and honking their car horns.
During the summer of 2022, the City of Oakland was home to the LGTBQ “Honkathon” where there were 6 days of horn honking protest.
On November 4, protesters in Anaheim blocked roads and honked horns in support of Palestine.
Were any of the drivers in those cases cited? There is no evidence that any of them were.
In the instant case, this driver was cited for honking at a Republican rally. Why this time? Why this particular rally? I think it’s plain- the intent here is to chill free speech.
The argument that you make here could also be made about highbeam headlights- that it’s a safety hazard to shine bright lights at oncoming drivers, and that is exactly the argument that was made by Florida police until 2012. Florida had a similar law against flashing highbeams, even though many drivers use this method to alert oncoming drivers of police who are waiting just around the corner from them. Police, on the other hand, do not appreciate it and would often write tickets to people they caught doing it.
Ryan Kintner was one such driver, and was cited for “improper flashing of lights” by an officer in Sanford for doing exactly that. The courts ruled that flashing your headlights to communicate is protected speech under the First Amendment.
That’s the great part of the Constitution- Laws that are repugnant to it are void. It isn’t about whether or not I like the law- the law is being used as an unconstitutional restriction on political speech. Claiming that it is a safety issue is just a legal figleaf being used by tyrants, and bootlickers who support them.
SoCoRuss · November 17, 2023 at 12:41 pm
Hope she wins but with SCOTUS, you never know what they will be allowed to rule for. They just allowed suppression of free speech in a ruling recently for twitter.
Anyway, If she wins its guaranteed Californication will find another way to get even….
The Clouds Are Forming Now · November 17, 2023 at 2:27 pm
Watched the videos of comrade Xi and I counted four USA flags along the highway and zero in downtown CPUSA (D) West HQ.
I’m sure it’s back to shit ridden already, may it sink under a wave of human feces.
Note to all CA scum-watch your back on my block.
Big Ruckus D · November 17, 2023 at 6:44 pm
This is just another retributive insult that leads to the inevitable change in conversation from one over free speech to one of free fire. These authoritarian cunts, in seeking to stifle all opportunity for dissent and criticism (and punish any that does pop up), are leaving the door wide open for getting themselves ventilated. And you know what? They deserve that and worse, so fuck ’em.
I can’t wait to see these pricks start dropping at the hands of the absurd and disgruntled. Better still if they just start mysteriously disappearing without a trace, as the psycho-emotional torture that will bring upon their colleagues and families will be even more enjoyable for those of us who have long realized there is no polite solution to any of this.
Fear is a powerful thing, and I’ll be honest here: when we get to the stage where these people are literally shitting themselves in histrionics, I’ll have a schadenboner from sea to shining sea. They do truly deserve that level of torture for what they’ve done.
They could avoid this outcome by backing down, and not acting like the overbearing shits they are. But their nature will preclude any such accommodation, so they will have to be eliminated with extreme prejudice. So be it then.
Big Ruckus D · November 17, 2023 at 9:11 pm
“absurd and disgruntled” should’ve read “abused and disgruntled”. Stupid autocorrect.
Don Curton · November 18, 2023 at 10:46 am
I always thought the horn was a communication device –
One short beep – you’re parked outside your girlfriend’s house, she needs to come out before her father finds you
One long beep – the light is green, asshole, time to get moving
Two beeps – Fuck you. Reasons vary.
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