By CAROLYN SZCZEPANSKI
Cory Bishop was already on his way to meet with the cops when he got pulled over in early May. The 20-year-old construction worker was driving to Sharky’s restaurant in Harrisonville — a town 35 miles southeast of Kansas City — to chat with a police detective who had some questions about a brawl five months earlier. Before Bishop got to the pool hall, though, his Ford F150 pickup truck caught the attention of another squad car.
When Bishop got pulled over, the officer told him it was because the truck’s taillights were out. But when the Peculiar resident got his citations in the mail a few days later, he had a ticket that took him by surprise. He knew he’d been busted for the broken taillights and not having his vehicle registration in his glove box. But he didn’t know he’d run afoul of city law by displaying an “indecent” bumper sticker.
Now, the local American Civil Liberties Union is taking steps to ensure Harrisonville citizens' First Amendment rights are protected — even if it’s the right to bear bumpers stickers of Calvin grabbing his crotch.
In late 2007, Bishop got a couple of stickers at a World of Wheels auto show. Some might call them offensive. He thought they were, well, funny.
Imports are like tampons. Every pussy has one. Spark plugs are for Pussies. Ford Power Stroke.
Stroke this Bitch.
He slapped them on the back of his pickup and didn’t get any flack from pissed-off parents or peeved foreign-car drivers. “I mean, I’ll be in the Wal-Mart parking lot or somewhere and people will be reading them and, like, drop to the ground, laughing.”
But Harrisonville officials didn’t find them quite so amusing. That night he was pulled over, Officer Osterberg of the Harrisonville Police Department issued Bishop a citation for “having two stickers on the back window of truck with the words ‘Pussy + Bitch’ in plain view of the public.” Faced with a $100 fine, Bishop argued his First Amendment right to free speech when he went to court on July 3. The Cass County judge sided with the city. “I told the judge, ‘So you’re going to give everybody in town a ticket who has a sticker that says something similar to this?’” Bishop recalls.
Bishop didn’t have the $250 to appeal the decision, so he got on the phone with the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri. The civil liberties’ defenders took notice. Though the prosecuting attorney eventually threw out the charge against Bishop, the ACLU thinks the Harrisonville ordinance may need its day in court as well.
The law in question says: “Any person who shall within the corporate limits of the City stick, write or put upon any street, alley, sidewalk, crossing or on any wall, fence or other public place any indecent word, phrase or depiction shall be deemed guilty of an offense.”
On September 5, the ACLU’s new chief counsel and legal director, Doug Bonney, fired off a letter to Harrisonville Mayor Kevin Wood questioning the ordinance. He cited case law that upholds citizens’ right to display language that others deem “vulgar.” He suggested the city at least amend the measure. “The current ordinance’s ban on display of ‘indecent’ signs on private property is unconstitutional and cannot stand,” Bonney wrote. “We would like to work with the City to resolve this problem.”
Mayor Wood hasn’t returned several calls from The Pitch. As of Tuesday, Wood hadn’t responded to the ACLU’s letter, either. Bonney says he’ll be sending a second note this week — this one with the threat of a lawsuit.
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STROKE THIS! CUZ ALL THE FUN IS OVER WHEN YOUR CUMMIN!!!!!! 7.3 all the way
I love my Iphone 4 alot, but this reception problem Im having is really becoming a hassle. I hope Apple would give us a free bumper. If they do not handle this issue its really going to damage their reputation.
Hmmm, ok well your words which you write were well thought out, and I will disagree with you.
first of all, a truck ,while in a public place, is still not "public property" so the ordinance should not apply to him.... not that i'm a lawyer?? second ....like you can get a diesel in an f150??? and third i like my honda very much it gets like 40mpg. and dude no tail lights?? of course you got pulled over!! btw my favorite bumper sticker is for the nra and it says ..."guns kill people like spoons make oprah fat" ...tell me thats not sweet!!
a guy has a bumper sticker he likes he is allowed to put it on his property i really dont see the problem its not like no one has ever used them words before are you going to go around giving people every time they say bitch in public its not a big deal!!!!
Man, getting a ticket for that is BS. I don't care what it says, people can whine all they want bc it uses foul language but who cares, u can�t tell me its not in a movie you see or don�t say it yourself. It wasn�t directed at anyone. Like those stickers would even have some kind of an impact on your life. There are ones that say �imports are like tampons, every pussy owns one�. I don�t see people getting tickets for stickers when it is directed toward government officials, such as all those anti-bush ones, those are directed a person which the laws say u can�t do. So why is that ok, then trying to say how these stickers are telling someone who is reading it to stoke it?
Man, getting a ticket for that is BS. I don't care what it says, people can whine all they want bc it uses foul language but who cares, u can�t tell me its not in a movie you see or don�t say it yourself. It wasn�t directed at anyone. Like those stickers would even have some kind of an impact on your life. There are ones that say �imports are like tampons, every pussy owns one�. I don�t see people getting tickets for stickers when it is directed toward government officials, such as all those anti-bush ones, those are directed a person which the laws say u can�t do. So why is that ok, then trying to say how these stickers are telling someone who is reading it to stoke it?
i think jen needs to think a little more on the mening of these bumper stickers. The word "pussy" refers to the vehicle. the sticker is saying that an import does not have near the power of a ford diesel truck. None of these stickers have anything to do with a person, or gender. They are all directed toward speciic vehicle types, and this is how these bumper stickers are not wrong. I, as a woman, do not see how these are sexist. I think these are uite funny
we should totally deconstruct trevor now through a marxist lens. what does lacan say about power stroking?
Is there actually a literary review of Calvin stickers going on here? Where are the muthafuckin� tea and crumpets? Let me get my monocle.
Seriously, do you guys have monocle-Calvin bumper stickers holding together your 80�s model Honda saying, �Stroke is a double-entendre� and �Truck stickers are just linguistic misogyny�?
The capitalism of Calvin stickers is not what is wrong here�it is the folks that make up the market for the stickers that is the problem.
the use of the word "bitch" as part of an insult that implies the user has power over whoever is being addressed, and the use of the word "pussy" as part of an insult that implies the user is tougher than whoever is being addressed, are both shining examples of liguistic misogyny. i don't expect name-calling, 20-year-old homophobes who drive gas-guzzling trucks to have the critical thinking skills necessary to realize this; however, i have to admit i'd like to be able to expect a bit more from the ACLU. not everyone has a right to say everything they want. this use of language perpetuates sexism in our culture.
The usage of stroke is in fact a double-entendre. It literally refers to the "Power Stroke" diesel engine he no doubt has in his pickup. It also implies a handjob.
What's really vulgar is the fact that I'm pretty sure he means "Stroke this, bitch" not Stroke [verb] this bitch [noun]. Which is sort of a different implication, isn't it?
Remember when being a rebel meant you went against the system instead of buying into and using the system? Good thing what Cory wants is so much more important than property value or ending the redneck stereotype. Way to go dude! Maybe you and the other ACLU clientele can meet up for some beers after your court date �if you do something tells me you will be going to see another detective about another bar fight.
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