Two Arrested For Telling Lawyer Jokes

from JoeUser Forums
From Netscape.com quick news links:

Two Arrested For Telling Lawyer Jokes
"How do you tell when a lawyer is lying?" Harvey Kash reportedly asked Carl Lanzisera that lead-in to an old joke as the two were standing in line in Hempstead, N.Y., to get into a Long Island courthouse. "His lips are moving," they exclaimed in unison. And for that they have been arrested.
The Associated Press reports that the two were exchanging lawyer jokes--to the amusement of some of those around them--when one person was not amused. He, needless to say, was a lawyer. He asked them to cut it out. They didn't. So he reported them to court personnel, who charged them with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, notes AP. "They just can't take it," Kash told AP of lawyers in general. "This violates our First Amendment rights." A spokesman for the Nassau County courts said Kash and Lanzisera were being abusive and causing a disturbance.


Ouch! That must have been some seriously thin skin on the complainant.

I guess I better be careful with my comments here, lest someone get me charged with the same misdemeanor as Kash and Lanzisera.
politics
2,867 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top

It's not the joke that got them into trouble.  It's the fact that they refused to cease and desist from what the court personnel (who are usually sworn officers) considered to be disorderly conduct.  We don't know what they said (or did) when they were asked to 'cut it out'....although I can't imagine it was polite, and it was probably that that got them into trouble. 

They had also made a habit out of hanging around courthouses, telling lawyer jokes.  This wasn't new behaviour, this was behaviour that was basically harrassment.  What would you do if someone stood outside your place of business and gave you crap every time you walked in or out, and they did this consistently over an extended period of time? 

This isn't a First Amendment case, they're just trying to make it into one.

Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
When it comes to lawyer jokes, or accountant or any other most are generally light hearted, but as you said dharmagrl, it was the fact that they persisted that got them into hot water, even if the said lawyer was being thin skinned, humor looses its point when you go past that point of being funny, not matter how harmless the joke, if someone says they are offended, do the right things and recoginise that you've reached the point where you should stop. I for one have no sympathy for the two people in question. They strike me as bullies, and put n the same position would probably be just as offended. We don't need to stop humor, just be thoughtful of the people around us and the intent that may have been attached to the jokes, especially when asked to stop. As for the court staff,that's their job, I see no fault there, after all they are there to ensure orderly behaviour, and I would hazard a guess if these two individule wree the recipients of these jokes, would only too gladly accept the assistance of the said court employees. Sdaly some people these days tend to thrive off the attention of the audience, and when someone objects to their behaviour just get all the more worked up, a sad problem which seems to be growing, that being hang shit on people.
The Political Machine 2024
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
Tough call - where free speech ends and disorderly conduct begins. It'll be interesting to see what the facts turn out to be.

Cheers,
Daiwa
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
I have to admit a fopar of my own, when starting my new role at a large accounting firm as Project Manager of IT, I forgot that the firm was an accounting firm and had to keep checking my accountant jokes were a little less insensitive, thankfully all were taken in the spirit of the humore for which they were intended, and of course I am still wearing the payback , and when you do the sums I maybe up for a bit more yet, 400 accountants "V"one Project manager. However it is great to be working with people who have a great sense of humor. I never realised there could be so many IT jokes.
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
Reply #1 By: dharmagrl - 1/14/2005 7:42:52 PM
It's not the joke that got them into trouble. It's the fact that they refused to cease and desist from what the court personnel (who are usually sworn officers) considered to be disorderly conduct. We don't know what they said (or did) when they were asked to 'cut it out'....although I can't imagine it was polite, and it was probably that that got them into trouble.
They had also made a habit out of hanging around courthouses, telling lawyer jokes. This wasn't new behaviour, this was behaviour that was basically harrassment. What would you do if someone stood outside your place of business and gave you crap every time you walked in or out, and they did this consistently over an extended period of time?
This isn't a First Amendment case, they're just trying to make it into one.


I think you misunderstood what was said. The *only* one that asked them to quit was an idiotic lawyer. Now while lawyers are considered to be officers of the court they are NOT sworn officers (like a baliff for instance.).

The idiot asked, then reported and they were charged and arrested. I believe when this is all said and done that you'll find that the court personnel over stepped their bounds on this.
Reply #6 from PolMach Forums Top
He, needless to say, was a lawyer. He asked them to cut it out. They didn't. So he reported them to court personnel, who charged them with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, notes AP.

Dude, I'm sorry, but that article says that the court personnel did NOT ask them to stop. Reat better next time, okay?
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top

I think you misunderstood what was said. The *only* one that asked them to quit was an idiotic lawyer

No, I didn't misunderstand.  The lawyer asked them to stop, and when they refused, he told the court personnel what they were doing.  The court personnel then asked the two idiots to stop, and again they refused....and their response to the officers was less than polite.  They were given the opportunity to walk away, and they chose not to take it.

The court personnel were and ARE sworn officers, and no, they didn't overstep their bounds.  These morons have made a habit out of hanging around courthouses, harrassing people like this. This isn't a one off situation, there's a pattern of behaviour here.

They broke the law.  They got arrested.  End of story.

 

Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top

Dude, I'm sorry, but that article says that the court personnel did NOT ask them to stop. Reat better next time, okay?

Dude, why don't you research the entire story before you tell someone else they're wrong?

Here, check this out:http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lijoke124112175jan12,0,2936521.story?coll=ny-topstories-headlines

There's the real story......they were warned beforehand, they have made a habit out of being assholes like this....and now they're getting what they deserved.

 

Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top

Reply #6 By: dharmagrl - 1/15/2005 11:49:18 PM
I think you misunderstood what was said. The *only* one that asked them to quit was an idiotic lawyer

No, I didn't misunderstand. The lawyer asked them to stop, and when they refused, he told the court personnel what they were doing. The court personnel then asked the two idiots to stop, and again they refused....and their response to the officers was less than polite. They were given the opportunity to walk away, and they chose not to take it.


Sorry but nowhere in the article "posted" does it say (show me where I'm wrong.) that court personel asked them to stop.

He, needless to say, was a lawyer. He asked them to cut it out. They didn't. So he reported them to court personnel, who charged them with disorderly conduct