Lindsay Lohan may have been all sobs during her 90-day jail sentencing, begging for understanding and expressing respect for the court on Tuesday. But her middle finger quietly offered another message.

“There’s no legal ramifications from this. She has a First Amendment right to wear anything she wants,” a prominent criminal defense attorney, Trent Copeland, tells PEOPLE. “But it’s just not the brightest thing in the world to go into court like that.”–Dahvi Shira and Ken Lee