Appeals Court Affirms Right To Curse Cop

A Georgia state trooper was wrong to arrest him

WARNER ROBINS—An appeals court has affirmed a federal court ruling that a former state trooper did not have arguable probable cause to arrest a man who cursed him in a 2008 incident in Houston County.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also found Friday that the Pulaski County man's speech was protected.

On Christmas Eve 2008, then-Georgia State Patrol trooper Justin Tabor pulled over the daughter of Lawrence Merenda for a seat belt violation in the parking lot of a Perry nursing home where Merenda worked, according to the lawsuit filed Dec. 20, 2010, in federal court in Macon.