The Toilet Tirade

Scranton -- known as the locale of the series "The Office" and the home of the Toilet Tirade. As I reported the other day, The Terrible Toilet, a woman from Scranton (my home town) was cited for cursing at her toilet -- and at the off duty policemen who hear her yelling from her open bathroom window.

Important rights are at issue in this case. Not wanting the city of Hazelton to have all the fun with its wacky immigration stance, Scranton is trying to elevate the case to a struggle over the limits of free speech. "Freedom of Speech is not an unfettered right," according to Scranton officials. With that, the ACLU is getting involved, ACLU to defend woman cited for cursing her toilet with discussion:

She will receive legal assistance from the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, which is expected to represent her.

“This is an extreme example of the government trying to intrude into a place they have no business being, your bathroom and your home,” said Mary Catherine Roper, an attorney with the ACLU. “You can prosecute somebody for bad language in Iran, this isn’t Iran.”

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Scranton Patrolman Patrick Gilman, who was off-duty at the time, asked her to stop using profanity, setting off a brief verbal altercation between the neighbors, police said.

“He cursed at me and I cursed back at him. I didn’t know he was a police officer,” she said.

Shortly thereafter, Patrolman Gilman called police headquarters to file a complaint.

Patrolman Gerald Tallo cited Ms. Herb for disorderly conduct, a summary offense.

Efforts to reach the patrolmen were unsuccessful Monday and Tuesday. Scranton Director of Public Safety Ray Hayes said he stands by the officer’s decision.

“Upon further review, many types of these incidents are not as cut and dry as they originally appear,” he said. “Freedom of speech is not an unfettered right.”

Saying that she just wants "justice," Dawn Herb has pleaded not guilty, Woman enters not-guilty plea in toilet tirade with discussion, according to the latest installment in today's paper.

It seems that The Electric City is electric with the news and it's gone national. CNN has reported it, under "Funny News," Toilet tantrum triggers ticket, as has USA Today, Police charge woman who shouted profanities at overflowing toilet. It has even been picked up in the UK, Australia and Germany.

But, of course, my favorite is the legal bloggers who have cited the story.

TalkLeft questions whether the matter would have been pursued if the neighbor wasn't a policeman, Stupid Citation of the Week. See also, Abovethelaw. But the best is the legal discussion at The Volokh Conspiracy - Woman Ticketed for Screaming Profanities at Overflowing Toilet:

So you're wondering, is that really a crime? The answer is 'no, it's not.' Civil libertarians and those with bad bathroom plumbing, rejoice: In Pennsylvania, you can scream at your overflowing john all you want without violating the state's disorderly conduct offense.

* * * *

Annoying your neighbor by being really noisy may be inconsiderate. But it's not the crime of disorderly conduct, even if your annoyed neighbor happens to be a police officer. Free Dawn Herb!

The post and the Comments are worth a read.

Who knows, this might be the next Scranton-themed series.

(Cartoon via John Cole, The Times-Tribune)

Tags: Humor, Law, News, Pennsylvania, Scranton