I'm loving this: Federal Court Rules Flipping Off Police Is Constitutional (FUCK YEAH!)

[djg21]

37. Yep.

The stop clearly was for "contempt of cop," but the passenger was lucky that the cop was a moron and his story was ludicrous (at least as represented in the Second Circuit's decision). Any halfway competent officer would have found (or created) probable cause in a matter of seconds. All he had to say was that the passenger of the car gave him the finger, he followed and saw an unsafe lane change or erratic driving, or a rolling stop, etc. If you drive a car, you should almost presume probable cause.

Sounds like the passenger here was an absolute asshole and deserved a ticket. The officer was doing his job. He might have acted like a jerk, but I don't know about making a federal case of it.

There may be something else going on here. This judge is usually considered pretty liberal and not especially pro-law enforcement. He generally is pretty fair. I was really surprised to see him grant summary judgment to the officer in the first place.