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Tuesday, March 28, 2006

The Progressive

Woman Gets $100 Ticket For " BUSHIT " Bumper Sticker

by Matthew Rothschild

 

Denise Grier is a nurse at Emory University hospital in Georgia.

 

On March 10, she was driving home from dinner when a Dekalb

County police officer pulled her over.

 

" At least initially, I was just surprised because I hadn't

done anything wrong, " she says.

 

" When he approached the car, he had his hand on his weapon,

and I was in my nurse's uniform with a stethoscope around my

neck. He asked for my license, and then said, 'Any idea why

I stopped you.'

 

" I said no.

 

'You have a lewd decal on your car.' "

 

Grier says she immediately thought that one of her kids had

put something nasty on her bumper as a joke.

 

" But then he mentioned the Bush sticker, " she says. That one

says: " I'm tired of all the BUSHIT. " (This story was first

reported by Joe Johnson of the Athens Banner-Herald.)

 

Grier says she told the officer it wasn't lewd, and that it

was clearly a political statement. When he insisted it was

lewd, she said, " I'm not going to discuss this any further.

Just give me the ticket. " Which he did.

 

Under " offense, " it says: “Lewd decals. "

 

The ticket is for $100.

 

Grier has no intention of paying it.

 

" I am so appalled at the officer's attempt to squash my

freedom of speech, " she told the Banner-Herald.

 

Elaborating to The Progressive, Grier says people are wrong

to view this in a partisan way.

 

" It's not just a Democrat/Republican issue, " she says.

" Y'all need to get beyond that. It's my right to speak, and

yours. "

 

Gerry Weber, the legal director of the ACLU of Georgia, is

representing Grier. " The indicators are that the officer

didn't like her views of President Bush and that was the

motivating factor, " he says.

 

Weber says the ticketing was clearly illegal.

 

He says the Georgia Supreme Court struck down the " lewd

bumpersticker " statute way back in 1991, in a case involving

a defendant who had a " Shit Happens " bumpersticker.

 

This shouldn't keep happening 15 years later, he says.

 

After the criminal case is over, Weber says he and Grier may

file a civil rights claim.

 

The Dekalb County Police Department would not discuss the

facts of the case.

 

" We don't comment on other officers' tickets, " says Officer

Herschel Grangent, who handles media affairs. " That officer

is making his decision on the street. And it's going through

legal channels now. "

 

By the way, this is not the first time someone in Grier's

family has gotten into trouble over a bumpersticker.

 

Last year, she says her 20-year-old son was pulled over in

Athens, Georgia, for having a bumpersticker that said, " Bush

Sucks Dick. Cheney Too. "

 

She says the police officer told her son, " If you do not

remove the bumpersticker, I'm taking you to jail. "

 

So he removed it.

 

" He thought it was kind of funny, " she says, though she told

him she would rather go to jail than take her bumpersticker off.

 

Grier has a court date of April 18.

 

Matthew Rothschild has been with The Progressive since 1983.

His McCarthyism Watch web column has chronicled more than

150 incidents of repression since 9/11.

 

*****

 

Bumper sticker a ticket to free speech fight

Athens woman pulled over

By Joe Johnson

Story updated at 11:48 PM on Thursday, March 23, 2006

 

Is BUSHIT lewd?

 

Is it even a word?

 

Whatever it is, BUSHIT was a bumper sticker message that got

an Athens woman cited in DeKalb County for violating a state

law prohibiting lewd or profane stickers and decals on vehicles.

 

In full, the sticker that got 47-year-old Denise Grier

pulled over reads, " I'm Tired Of All The BUSHIT " --

referring to President Bush's policies.

 

Grier, a registered nurse at Emory University Hospital, said

the sticker is a political statement.

 

The DeKalb police officer who stopped her thought it was lewd.

 

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled more than a decade ago that

the law against lewd bumper stickers is unconstitutional,

according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

 

Grier, the officer and an ACLU attorney will meet in court

next month when Grier contests the misdemeanor charge, which

carries a $100 fine.

 

" I am so appalled at the officer's attempt to squash my

freedom of speech, " Grier said Thursday. " I'm not a huge

political activist or rabble-rouser, but Bush's handling of

the country has pushed me to that. "

 

Both Grier and ACLU attorney Gerry Weber said the law allows

officers to pick and choose who they cite based on the

officers' own political beliefs.

 

" There's a concern police officers may use their personal

bias in meting out citations, " Weber said. " They just might

not like what a particular bumper sticker says. "

 

Grier believes the officer stopped her because he supports

the president.

 

" In my opinion, I was pulled over solely because the officer

was pro-Bush, and this was an attempt to squash my right of

free speech, " she said. " The officer did not have any other

reason to pull me over. "

 

In addition to the offending bumper sticker, Grier's white

Chrysler's rear window sports two other political

statements: A crossed-out W and " Hillary 2008. "

 

While Grier argues her bumper sticker is political speech

protected by the First Amendment, the case that challenged

the lewd decal law didn't involve such a serious message. In

1991, the ACLU backed a motorist who was cited for a " S---

happens bumper sticker.

 

The court called the decal law vague and overly broad.

 

The current edition of the Georgia Law Enforcement Handbook,

which officers rely on, doesn't mention that the decal law

was overturned.

 

Weber said the ACLU will seek to have the handbook revised.

 

" The law is unenforceable, and departments are supposed to

inform their officers, " Weber said.

 

After she finished her shift at the hospital on March 10,

Grier went to dinner with a friend and was returning home

when she noticed a police car following her.

 

When the officer flashed his blue lights, Grier didn't think

anything of it, because she wasn't breaking any traffic laws.

 

" When I saw the lights come on, I thought I had to get out

of his way " because the officer needed to get by, Grier

said. " I kept on going because I hadn't done anything wrong.

But then I said to my friend, 'Oh, I think he's pulling me

over.' "

 

The officer told Grier he stopped her because of a lewd

bumper sticker on her car; Grier thought one of her sons had

played a prank.

 

" I was going to kill them because I thought they put

something on, " Grier said.

 

When the officer started to lecture her, Grier said she cut

him off and asked for the ticket.

 

" I said, 'I'll see you in court,' and he said, 'You sure

will,' " Grier said.

 

 

 

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