Things That Make Ya Say Hhhmmm...

Woman Refuses To Change Anti-Bush Shirt For Sentencing
Sat Jun 3, 2:11 PM ET

A woman convicted of assaulting Cleveland Heights police officers appeared in court for sentencing Friday morning, but the sentencing was delayed when the judge said she must change her clothes.

However, Carolyn Fisher refused to change out of her anti-
President George W. Bush T-shirt before arriving back in court Friday afternoon, but Judge Timothy McGinty went ahead with the sentencing anyway, NewsChannel5 reported.

Fisher was arrested in January when she was hanging up anti-President George W. Bush posters, which police say is against the law. Officers said the woman attacked them when they ordered her to take down the posters.

Fisher was convicted of two count of felony assault against a police officer. She and her supporters showed up for her sentencing wearing anti-Bush T-shirts, but the judge deemed the attire inappropriate.

McGinty said he had no problem with people protesting the war or the president, but that the courtroom was not the appropriate place for it.

McGinty told Fisher that she must change out of her T-shirt and dress appropriately for the sentencing or else a warrant would be issued for her immediate arrest.

When Fisher showed back up wearing the same shirt, however, McGinty did not turn it into a legal issue, and instead sentenced her for the original assault charges.

The judge told Fisher that he had never seen someone work so hard to go to jail, to try to become a martyr.He also gave Fisher a chance to express remorse for her actions during the altercation with police, before he sentenced her to 60 days in jail.

But Fisher told him that if he was looking for an apology, she was not going to give it. She claims that she did nothing wrong, and that the police officers had attacked her.

NewsChannel5 reported that there were some intense moments inside the courtroom, and that several people had to be escorted out by deputies after they became loud and belligerent.

Hhhmmm... Just a little story.

I was waiting for a friend outside the Cedar-Lee Cinema, and a guy started small-talkin' with me. The conversation led to BushCo bein' seriously whack, and he brought up the above story, and how he was posting the same flyers in a different location. He said the woman, Fisher, was being "Big Brothered" by the fascists and, while I agreed it is a rediculous law, I had to point out that it is, none-the-less, the law in C-Heights.

We both agreed that she's got guts and wished the law weren't there. I'm all for Civil Disobediance. It just seems she may want to practice it in a manner that has some hope of getting her grievance redressed.

I totally applaud her t-shirt choice for the court appearance, though. Unless it portrayed some message of violence or readily discernible obscenity (lol! A sex act or the like, for example) her message was clear and completely rational considering the charges against her.

And kudos to the judge for ignoring his own admonition for her to change her attire. His "martyr" comment shows that he respected her right to protest on at least the clothing issue.