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Surely I won't be jailed for calling anybody -- even our president -- a goat fucker. Perhaps we may (regrettably) go down that road someday and perhaps there a

Surely I won't be jailed for calling anybody -- even our president -- a goat fucker. Perhaps we may (regrettably) go down that road someday and perhaps there are instances of police overstepping their bounds to regulate "proper" speech, but I'd be willing to bet* my next pay check that being arrested for calling somebody a goat fucker would not hold up in court. * - OK, not my whole check but like $5

bostonpete 11y ago
> Surely I won't be jailed for calling anybody -- even our president -- a goat fucker. If you called a judge a "goat fucker" in their court room, I suspect you would be in some hot water. One could argue there's not a huge leap between rules/laws requiring respectful behavior towards judges in a court room and a law requiring respectful behavior towards world leaders... Edit: Not sure why I'm being downvoted -- I'm not defending the German law, just pointing out that it's not that different from contempt-of-court punishments in the US.
- kirykl 11y ago
  In context of US court it might fail the Miller test https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_v._California https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_v._California
  - newjersey 11y ago
    In line with Hustler magazine v Falwell, a reasonable person would not think Barack Obama actually does that. Now, in an unfortunate turn of events should Cruz become POTUS I don't know if such a statement would be seen differently because I'd believe that he does do that.
- troisx 11y ago
  I agree. People in the United States have gone to jail for insulting someone if that someone happens to be a judge, but for some reason everyone is up in arms over a world leader doing the same thing. I think it's ridiculous that I have to sit or stand or call someone "your honor" just because it's a guy wearing a robe that's involved. Any US citizen that thinks what Merkel is doing is wrong should take a second look at their own free speech limitations. Here's a girl in the United States who had a judge raise her bail just because she said "adios" instead of "bye", and then put her in jail for a month for saying "fuck you": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rrRGhvpEjo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rrRGhvpEjo
morgante 11y ago
I'd be willing to bet my annual salary that being arrested for calling a politician a goat fucker would not hold up in a US court.

bostonpete 11y ago

> Surely I won't be jailed for calling anybody -- even our president -- a goat fucker. If you called a judge a "goat fucker" in their court room, I suspect you would be in some hot water. One could argue there's not a huge leap between rules/laws requiring respectful behavior towards judges in a court room and a law requiring respectful behavior towards world leaders... Edit: Not sure why I'm being downvoted -- I'm not defending the German law, just pointing out that it's not that different from contempt-of-court punishments in the US.

kirykl 11y ago
In context of US court it might fail the Miller test https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_v._California https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_v._California
- newjersey 11y ago
  In line with Hustler magazine v Falwell, a reasonable person would not think Barack Obama actually does that. Now, in an unfortunate turn of events should Cruz become POTUS I don't know if such a statement would be seen differently because I'd believe that he does do that.
troisx 11y ago
I agree. People in the United States have gone to jail for insulting someone if that someone happens to be a judge, but for some reason everyone is up in arms over a world leader doing the same thing. I think it's ridiculous that I have to sit or stand or call someone "your honor" just because it's a guy wearing a robe that's involved. Any US citizen that thinks what Merkel is doing is wrong should take a second look at their own free speech limitations. Here's a girl in the United States who had a judge raise her bail just because she said "adios" instead of "bye", and then put her in jail for a month for saying "fuck you": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rrRGhvpEjo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rrRGhvpEjo

morgante 11y ago

I'd be willing to bet my annual salary that being arrested for calling a politician a goat fucker would not hold up in a US court.