Federal Appeals Court Upholds First Amendment Right To Warn Drivers of Police Ahead

[Kamaji]

Federal Appeals Court Upholds First Amendment Right To Warn Drivers of Police Ahead

Michael Friend was arrested in 2018 for holding a sign that read "Cops Ahead" near a police checkpoint. That arrest violated his First and Fourth Amendment rights, a federal appeals court has ruled.

C.J. CIARAMELLA
3.3.2023

A federal appeals court ruled that a Connecticut man's First Amendment rights were violated when police arrested him for holding a sign warning drivers of police activity ahead.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit reversed a lower court decision and held that a police officer in Stamford, Connecticut, violated Michael Friend's First Amendment rights and had no probable cause to arrest him for standing on a public sidewalk and holding a sign that read "Cops Ahead."

Friend was standing on a sidewalk near a Stamford police checkpoint on April 12, 2018, holding a "Cops Ahead" sign when Sgt. Richard Gasparino approached Friend, took his sign, and threatened to arrest him. Friend instead made a larger sign and moved to a different spot. Gasparino then handcuffed and arrested Friend, who was charged with misdemeanor interference and held on a $25,000 bail. Prosecutors later dropped the charge.

Friend, represented by the Connecticut chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), filed a civil rights lawsuit, arguing that Gasparino's seizure of his signs and his arrest violated Friend's First and Fourth Amendment rights.

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Source:  https://reason.com/2023/03/03/federal-appeals-court-upholds-first-amendment-right-to-warn-drivers-of-police-ahead/

[Sighlass]

Some police will arrest you for flashing your headlights at oncoming traffic, some will not... this sorta parallels an earlier court decision that said flashing your lights was a First Amendment right (with some restrictions, distance from approaching cars being the main one). 

[andy58-in-nh]

Some police will arrest you for flashing your headlights at oncoming traffic, some will not... this sorta parallels an earlier court decision that said flashing your lights was a First Amendment right (with some restrictions, distance from approaching cars being the main one).

Police officers, for the most part have no problem with drivers who flash their lights to warn approaching vehicles of their presence: it causes people to slow down.

[Smokin Joe]

Police officers, for the most part have no problem with drivers who flash their lights to warn approaching vehicles of their presence: it causes people to slow down.

If the idea is to get people to drive more sanely, you would think they'd welcome the lack of writer's cramp and carpal tunnel damage.

If it's to get revenue, well, that might be met less approvingly.

The town of Amidon, ND had a (somewhat dated) police car sitting in a lot in the middle of town, complete with a dummy officer for a while.
You couldn't help it, you saw it, and instinctively slowed down, even if you knew it was a 'decoy'.
But traffic slowed to something much closer to the in-town speed limit on account of that, so it performed as desired.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

The goal is not for drivers to slow down just on the very limited stretch of ground the police are watching.  It is for them to slow down period along the entire length of a road.  That's why they don't advertise their location.  The flashing of lights reduces the incentive of drivers to keep within the speed limit everywhere because they figure no flashing lights, much lower chance the police will catch you.

That being said, the court was right to say giving warnings is constitutionally protected.