Cops Mistake Buckeye Leaf for Weed

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Joe Blundo: Tennessee police might need better instruction in botany and Buckeye football. A 65-year-old woman recently came under suspicion, she reported, for having a Buckeye leaf decal on her car. The cops mistook it for a marijuana symbol. ... Before they let her go on her way, the officers advised Jonas-Boggioni to remove the decal from her car. "I said, 'You mean in Tennessee?' and he said, 'No, permanently.'"

Posted by rcade at 06:54 PM | 21 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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rcade

Joined 2003/04/04
Visited 2013/05/17

Status: editor

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I can't wait until they start rounding up all the Japanese maples.

#1 | Posted by Harry_Powell at 2013-02-17 06:59 PM | Reply | Flag:

Thanks, War on Drugs! This is just the sort of police state that keeps us free.

#2 | Posted by snoofy at 2013-02-17 07:44 PM | Reply | Flag:

Best part:

A marijuana sticker would not be a sufficient reason to stop a car, said a spokeswoman for the West Tennessee Drug Task Force.

#3 | Posted by rstybeach11 at 2013-02-17 08:42 PM | Reply | Flag:

Im gonna smoke some weed, only got 20 dollas in my pocket
Imma huntin, looking for a pot shop, this is F-----g awesome!

Walk into my house like what up, i got some good pot
I'm just pumped up got some herb from the pot shop
Ice in my fridge it used to be frosty
My friends like "D---, that's a stoned a-- donkey!"
Rollin' in h---a high, looking like it's fifa time
Dominating all my friends, as I eat some chili fries
Draped in a snuggie with my girl sitting next to me
Probably shouldn't have had a big gulp full of ice tea
PISS!
But s--- it was 99 cents!

I be blazin and smokin it
Bout to go and get some munchie snacks, passing up on those cracker jacks
Reeces Pieces are where it's at, Gotta get me some soda pop
Cotton mouth has been creeping up
But can't remember where I put my keys,
Yeah, that's what's up.
Imma take your grandpa's ride, Imma take your grandpa's ride
No for real, ask your grandpa, Can I take his 65?
Deville Cruisin to my local Publix
Nothing better than rolling with 2 super fly chicks!
They had frozen burritos, I bought frozen burritos
I bought some Ben and Jerry's, then I bought some Cheetos
Hello, Hello, my main man Obama
A couple states have just reformed their laws on marijuana
Whatcha gonna do, send the feds there? H--- no!
The DEA's would be like "Ah, they got Volcano"

What you know about the science of marijuana?
What you know about people suffering from glaucoma?
They need it, they need it, it helps them with their condition
If don't believe me, then just ask some eye physicians
Thank your granddad for voting for that guy Richard
Nixon is the President who made the plant illegal
But science is now showing that its medicine for people
And the private sector's fighting to keep all of that illegal
Alcohol and Tobacco, Pharmaceutical, Prisons
I'll take those four major lobby groups and fight those motherf-----s
They making money day and night, all those motherf-----s
And bribing congress out of sight, all those motherf-----s
They be like, "Oh, it's immoral and unhealthy"
I'm like how many people are you making wealthy
Anti-marijuana lobbies are making all kinds of profits
And they don't want you to stop it cause of all the special interests
I call that getting swindled and pimped, s---
I call that getting tricked by the government, that law's h---a old
So its time to update it, regulate it, and then get it under state control
Peep Game, look into my political telescope
Think it's going to stay like this forever, nah, it h---a won't, nah, it h---a won't.

Let's end the war on drugs, It's time to pull the plug
These special interest groups are nothing more than corporate thugs
Let's end the war on weed, the people have agreed.
These special interest groups have kept these laws with bribery

Imma smoke some weed, only got 20 dollas in my pocket
Imma huntin, looking for a pot shop, this is f-----g awesome!

-Pot Shop (Parody of Thrift Shop)

#4 | Posted by TaoWarrior at 2013-02-17 08:43 PM | Reply | Flag:

Even if it was what the police thought, I think this becomes a free speech question, Many symbols could mean illegal things that does not mean a crime has been committed or that the person should be treated differently for having that symbol. I would hate to see every car with a confereit flag pulled over for a hate crime.

#5 | Posted by THomewood at 2013-02-17 11:10 PM | Reply | Flag:

The ever growing police tyranny. Complacent America. Now free expression is illegal.

#6 | Posted by klifferd at 2013-02-17 11:45 PM | Reply | Flag:

sigh, them inbred hilljacks are still pist about their Homeboy John Cooper
OSU coach 88-99, canned in disgrace for his pathetic 2–10–1 record vs Michigan

#7 | Posted by roadrunner22 at 2013-02-18 06:54 AM | Reply | Flag:

Anti First Amendment Nazis. What's next, remove all NRA stickers?

#8 | Posted by bph320 at 2013-02-18 08:13 AM | Reply | Flag:

so what if was a pot sticker? no law against that

#9 | Posted by yougothurt at 2013-02-18 10:31 AM | Reply | Flag:

...a Buckeye leaf decal on her car. The cops mistook it for a marijuana symbol.

Never heard of anyone getting a Buckeye high before.

#10 | Posted by CalifChris at 2013-02-18 12:14 PM | Reply | Flag:

'Before they let her go on her way, the officers advised Jonas-Boggioni to remove the decal from her car. "I said, 'You mean in Tennessee?' and he said, 'No, permanently.'"'

Typical. The cop is an idiot who made a dumb mistake but its the taxpayer who should change to work her way around his idiocy.....

Protect and serve my ass.....

#11 | Posted by Sully at 2013-02-18 12:52 PM | Reply | Flag:

The Deadheads are probably scraping decals off their cars as we read this.

#12 | Posted by Diablo at 2013-02-18 12:52 PM | Reply | Flag:

"Protect and serve "

The LAPD's motto is "Repress and kill."

#13 | Posted by nullifidian at 2013-02-18 12:54 PM | Reply | Flag:

If the MSM was doing their job they'd investigate and identify the actual cops involved and put them on 60 Minutes or some similar show to explain themselves. This behavior needs exposed and instead it gets covered up by a media that typically works to coverup rather than expose..

#14 | Posted by Robson at 2013-02-18 07:36 PM | Reply | Flag:

#5 | Posted by THomewood
Agreed

First Amendment allows you to give the cops the finger

Giving someone the finger is protected under the First Amendment. This issue surfaces from time to time, and it was confimed again by a federal court in Pennsylvania in March 2009.

Here is what happened in Hackbart v. City of Pittsburgh. Hackbart was trying to park his car in Pittsburgh when someone blocked his entry into the parking space and would not back up. As the court put it, "frustrated, Hackbart extended his left arm out the window of his vehicle and extended his middle finger to the driver." An officer, Elledge, saw this gesture and told Hackbart to watch it. The court says, "Hackbart responded by directing the same gesture toward Elledge." That did it. Elledge pulled him over and charged him with disorderly conduct. The district attorney's office dropped the charge, and Hackbart sued the police officer.

Most people will not give the police the finger. But you have to admit that you've always wondered what would happen if you did. Hackbart did. The federal court says he has a case. In fact, he wins the case without a trial. Here's why.

The Supreme Court has said that even non-verbal gestures and symbols may constitute speech. The Pennsylvania federal court adds, "several courts ... have found that the expressive use of the middle finger is protected speech under the First Amendment." For example, the federal appeals court in Cincinnatti ruled that the First Amendment allowed a driver to give the finger and tell protesters "[f---] you." An appeals court in California said that directing a series of expletives and an obscene gesture at a police officer represented an expression of approval toward the officer and was therefore protected under the First Amendment.

Under these precedents, the court finds that "Hackbart ... was expressing his frustration and anger when he gestured with his middle finger to both the driver behind him and to Elledge." The officer made no secret of the reason why he arrested Hackbart for disorderly conduct. He wrote on the police report: "Driver made an obscene gesture towards me. Flipped me off while driving by. Also flipped off another driver." In writing this, the officer gave Hackbart a lawsuit. The officer admits that he arrested Hackbart in violation of the First Amendment.

#15 | Posted by zack991 at 2013-02-18 08:14 PM | Reply | Flag:

11 states SUPPOSEDLY have pro pot legislation being proposed... next, the GOP will eventually cave in. Too bad for all the people that got thrown in jail and lost valuable life experience and time having to pave the way for the drug war end. But running from the man was half the fun?!!?!?!?

#16 | Posted by AuntieSocial at 2013-02-18 08:17 PM | Reply | Flag:

"... next, the GOP will eventually cave in"

And probably before President

#17 | Posted by nullifidian at 2013-02-18 08:23 PM | Reply | Flag:

...Choomgang.

p.twimg.com

#18 | Posted by nullifidian at 2013-02-18 08:24 PM | Reply | Flag:

GOTTA GET DEM DUKE BOYS! GOO! GOO!

#19 | Posted by AuntieSocial at 2013-02-18 08:38 PM | Reply | Flag:

#16 | Posted by AuntieSocial

I know you dems like to pretend the repubs are the bad guys with badges, but it is the big government crowd that wants more rules and more searches and monitoring of you in your daily lifes.

#20 | Posted by Marty at 2013-02-19 10:49 AM | Reply | Flag:

I bet dollars to donuts that most crappy cops vote republican. Hands down.

#21 | Posted by Kreator at 2013-02-19 11:20 AM | Reply | Flag: