Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in California

Re: A recent situation I experienced

Can he?? He did, didn't he?

If you were arrested and charged with a crime, you could raise impropriety, if any, in your defense.

I'd say that insulting a police officer was certainly impolite, uncivilized, and very unwise. What did you think he was going to do, smile and thank you?

Re: A recent situation I experienced

No. This is speech protected by the First Amendment under U.S. Supreme Court precedent. An arrest for making a statement like this would be illegal and the officer could be sued for violating your civil rights.

There is no law that requires you to be respectful or nice to a police officer although it can be risky to disrespect one who does not know the law, as in this case.

Re: A recent situation I experienced

While attorney Beauvais is of course correct that you have a First Amendment right to say "It smells like bacon" in the presence of a police officer, and the officer could theoretically be sued for violating your civil rights, there aren't very many attorneys who take civil rights cases against the police, and I presume that a pre-eminent civil rights attorney such as Mr. Beauvais probably has his hands full with cases involving people who were killed, or had their bones broken, by the police.

It's best to be polite and courteous to the police while saying as little as possible. If you are questioned by the police, it's best to say nothing at all.