Only in America: The right to flip the bird

A New York man sues (and wins) after getting arrested for flipping off a cop — and more in our collection of strange revelations about the nation

The right to flip the bird
(Image credit: ThinkStock/iStockphoto)

Upstate New York resident Joshua Swartz was pulled over and arrested after he gave a cop the middle finger at a traffic intersection in 2006. Now, nearly seven years later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit has overturned a lower court's decision and dropped all charges against Swartz. The decision "reaffirms that just because you insult a police officer, [it] doesn't give that police officer the right to detain you or arrest you and take away your liberty," attorney Elmer Robert Keach III told the AP.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Samantha Rollins

Samantha Rollins is TheWeek.com's news editor. She has previously worked for The New York Times and TIME and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.