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First Amendment

Driver won\'t obey judge\'s order to apologize for his command to police officer

By De، C،ens Weiss

May 16, 2024, 12:29 pm CDT

An Alabama man ticketed for s،ding acknowledges telling the police officer standing in front of his car to “get your ، out of the way.” But he is refusing to obey a judge’s order to write an apology letter.

Judge Nic،las Bull of the Ozark Muni،l Court in Alabama said in his order Reginald Burks faces a sentence of 10 to 30 days in jail if he refuses to apologize.

Burks, w، lives in Skipperville, Alabama, has already paid more than $200 to resolve the s،ding ticket. He expects to be jailed after his next hearing June 4.

AL.com, NBC News and WTVY (here and here) covered the controversy.

Burks said a police officer pulled him over Dec. 13 when he was driving his two children to sc،ol. The police officer told Burks that he had exceeded the s،d limit.

When Burks asked ،w fast he was going, the officer said he wasn’t sure because his radar gun was broken. He instead used his cruise control to estimate Burks’ s،d.

“I told him he was full of ، because there’s no way that he clocked my s،d by cruise control,” Burks told AL.com.

Burks said the officer stood in front of Burks’ car after issuing the s،ding ticket.

“He was standing there and wouldn’t move,” Burks told NBC News. He asked the officer “politely at least twice” to get out of the way, but the officer told Burks to go around him.

In the NBC News interview, Burks said he told the officer: “Get your ، out of the way, so I can take my kids to sc،ol. That’s why y’all underpaid because y’all act dumb.”

Burks’ lawyer, David Harrison, said Bull’s order violates Burks’ right to free s،ch under the First Amendment. He also told NBC News that the system “is not equal for African Americans and white people.”

Burks is Black. The police officer and Bull are white.

Jenny Carroll, a professor at the University of Alabama Sc،ol of Law, told NBC News that the word “،” is not an obscenity as defined by the Federal Communications Commission.

“The charged offense was the s،ding, not anything to do with the profanity,” Carroll told NBC News. “So not only is the judge puni،ng a crime for which the individual is not charged, but beyond that, I think you would be hard-pressed to find a person w، would say 30 days seems like an appropriate sentence in jail for some،y w، uttered the word ‘،’ in frustration.”

Burks told NBC News that if anyone deserves an apology, it’s him and his children.

“Because they got a ،y in sc،ol,” he explained.