Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/07/29/truck_freedom_case/
Truck nuts swing onto US freedom of speech agenda
Forget the debt crisis, my truck's got balls
Posted in Bootnotes, 29th July 2011 18:29 GMT
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NSFW The lower portions of the US are distracting themselves from the Washington debt-ceiling car crash by asking whether the use of "truck nuts" constitutes obscenity or is a question of free expression.
The constitutional freedom issue has swung into the national consciousness after a South Carolina woman was ticketed for hanging a brace of the gargantuan plastic testicles from the backup of her pickup truck.
American ingenuity at its finest
Sixty-five year old Virginia Tice was given the $445 ticket under the state's obscene bumper sticker law [1], according to the Associated Press via local station WYFF.
However, Tice was not prepared to tuck away her testicles just like that, and has opted to let a jury trial decide whether having a big red pair of knackers swinging from the back of your trailer hitch is a threat to public morals or if it's constitutionally protected freedom of speech.
WCSC quoted local police chief Franco Fuda explaining, "Genitalia is offensive. As a law enforcement officer, I'll advise that if it warrants a citation, I'll issue a citation." The site also feature illustrations of a variety of truck nuts [2].
Locals have rallied to Tice's defence, with one telling the local ABC station [3] that "People have the right to freedom of speech."
Fellow truck-nut swinger John Caddedl agreed it was a matter of "personal expression. My truck's got power."
By Thursday, the Abovethelaw.com blog was asking "Is a ban on truck nuts unconstitutional," adding that the case was "turgid with hypocrisy."
The case could be heard next month, assuming the US is still able to afford a legal system by then. ®