Robert Ekas of Clackamas, Oregon is suing the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office, and a number of Clackamas Deputy’s for multiple civil rights violations that resulted from him flipping off deputy’s on July 22nd 2007, and then again on August 30th 2007. Both times Ekas was stopped and harassed by Clackamas County deputies, and on the July 22nd stop Ekas was given 2 citations.
Appearing in court on September 26th 2007, Justice Knauss acquitted Ekas on both charges after hearing testimony from Ekas, Ekas’ witness, and Clackamas County Deputy Marcus Wold, the Clackamas Deputy who allegedly violated Ekas’s civil rights.
The controversy that started the barrage of middle fingers at Clackamas deputies, was a form of protest against the agency he claims is abusing its citizenry. “That’s why they get the finger,” he said. Ekas also said "I want a jury trial". "It seemed like the right thing to do,” said the 46-year-old, who is seeking damages and police reform amid allegations he was unlawfully stopped.
American University legal scholar Ira Robbins has written a definitive paper on flipping the bird: “Digitus Impudicus: The Middle Finger and the Law.” “The pursuit of criminal sanctions for use of the middle finger infringes on First Amendment rights, violates fundamental principles of criminal justice, wastes valuable judicial resources, and defies good sense,” Robbins wrote.
On March 15 federal judge will entertain Clackamas County’s motion to have the civil rights lawsuit tossed. The county has denied the allegations.
In November, a Pittsburgh man was awarded $50,000 after he was wrongly cited for disorderly conduct after flipping off an officer.
Los Angeles criminal attorney Lawrence Wolf, chimed in saying, "if Ekas’ case makes it to trial, the officers are likely to testify that they were concerned “about his sanity.” well i am not a lawyer but i am sure Ekas has a pretty good case being that on September 26th Justice Knauss had acquitted Ekas on charges brought by Clackamas deputy Marcus Wold, and after a bit of Googling i found that Ekas isn’t the only one in the local Clackamas county news, and from what i had read there are more than a few substantiated claims of the Sheriff’s office stepping over the line on more than one occasion!
What i had found were few complaints on alleged patterns of misconduct by the sheriff’s office, 2 notable cases include the tasering and shooting to death an unarmed man, which resulted in a 1 million dollar settlement to the family, and a Federal trial of an ex Sandy police office, and one Clackamas deputy sheriff.
All in all the thing that haunts me the most is if this had been a biker who had flipped off the cops, then i am pretty sure that the shoe would be on the other foot with the cops having the upper hand, unless there were a few witnesses to back up the bikers story. I am all for the police doing their job, which is supposed to be protecting the local citizenry, but when the police, or the sheriff’s office in this case violate the civil rights of law abiding citizens, well that will not do, and we as a community shouldn’t let these badge holding menaces get off easy!
As sad as it is to say, police brutality and civil rights violations are nothing new to this country, and until the judicial system makes an example out of all law enforcement who are found guilty and there is a global change in the perceptions and attitudes these rogue law enforcement officers exhibit and inflict upon innocent people, well we’re sadly going to continue to hear and read about the terrible accounts of civil rights violations and physical and mental abuse.
If you have been injured in a motorcycle accident, you need an aggressive and experienced Motorcycle Accident Lawyer to protect your rights. Call Russ Brown @ 1-800-4-BIKERS today or visit him on the web @ www.russbrown.com.
If you have been injured in a motorcycle accident in New York, Pennsylvania, or Ohio you need an Aggressive Motorcycle accident lawyer to protect your rights! Call 1-800-424-5377 today! Rob Fleming is a Freelance writer for hire with over 10 years experience in Developing unique website content, Website Marketing, and SEO techniques. He has authored hundreds of powerful articles on building site authority and driving traffic to websites.
Recent Comments