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First Amendment

Man arrested for cursing during 911 call files civil-rights suit

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A disabled veteran who was arrested and jailed for cursing during a call to 911 has filed a civil-rights suit against law-enforcement officials.

Boyd Green used the phrases “damn asshole” and “damn bullshit” when he called 911 in Whitfield County, Georgia, at 3 a.m. on June 2, 2014, according to the suit (PDF) filed on his behalf by the Southern Center for Human Rights and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton. Green had called 911 to complain about his mother’s 2013 death and to ask for the law enforcement officer he felt was to blame, the Times Free Press reports. A press release is here.

Green had been his 83-year-old mother’s sole caretaker when he was arrested for driving under the influence a year before his 911 call. After his DUI arrest in June 2013 and during his incarceration, Green repeatedly asked for someone to check on his mother, the suit says. No one checked on Green’s mother until a neighbor found her dead in her home five days after Green’s arrest. The officer Green had asked for during his 911 call was the man who had arrested him for DUI, according to the suit.

Green was charged in June 2014 with unlawful conduct during a 911 call for using “vulgar language” and jailed for about five hours before posting bond. His probation for DUI was revoked and he was sentenced to four days in jail. Prosecutors later dismissed the charge.

The suit claims violations of the First, Fourth and 14th Amendments.

Hat tip to the Marshall Project.

Updated at 11:39 a.m. to add more details.