It
is,
officially,
not
a
crime
to
wear
an
inflatable
penis
costume
to
a
protest
in
Alabama.
We
should
not
have
needed
a
trial
for
this,
and
yet
here
we
are.
As
Techdirt
explained
last
week,
Renea
Gamble
—
a
62-year-old
grandmother
—
was
arrested
last
October
at
a
“No
Kings”
anti-Trump
protest
in
Fairhope,
Alabama
for
the
crime
of
wearing
a
7-foot
inflatable
phallus
from
Spirit
Halloween
while
waving
a
sign
reading
“No
Dick
Tator.”
Corporal
Andrew
Babb
of
the
Fairhope
Police
Department
approached
Gamble,
told
her
he
was
“serious
as
a
heart
attack,”
before
throwing
her
to
the
ground,
calling
for
backup,
and
handcuffing
the
senior
citizen
for
disorderly
conduct
or
something
in
that
vein.
The
scene
was
captured
on
bodycam
footage
that
subsequently
went
viral,
because
that’s
what
happens
with
video
of
multiple
cops
trying
to
stuff
a
giant
penis
into
the
back
of
a
squad
car.
That’s
what
the
internet
is
for.
Claiming
she
was
engaged
in
“disorderly
conduct,”
the
officer
demanded
to
know
how
Gamble
would
explain
the
costume
to
his
children.
The
answer,
of
course,
is
that
they’re
his
kids
and
it’s
not
the
rest
of
the
world’s
job
to
protect
him
from
awkward
conversations.
Rather
than
doing
the
smart
thing
and
quietly
pretending
the
whole
episode
never
happened,
Fairhope’s
city
attorney
doubled
down,
slapping
Gamble
with
additional
charges
including
disturbing
the
peace
and
giving
a
false
name
to
law
enforcement.
That
last
one
stemming
from
Gamble
obviously
sarcastically
telling
officers
her
name
was
“Auntie
Fa”
after
they’d
already
pinned
her
to
the
ground.
Hey,
you
miss
100
percent
of
the
shots
you
don’t
take!
You
also
miss
a
hefty
percentage
of
the
obviously
frivolous
charges
you
bring,
which
is
what
happened
here.
On
Wednesday,
Fairhope
Municipal
Judge
Haymes
Snedeker
acquitted
Gamble
on
every
count
—
misdemeanor
disorderly
conduct,
resisting
arrest,
disturbing
the
peace,
and
the
false
name
charge.
Who
would
have
thought
a
closing
argument
that
included
the
immortal
line,
“There
is
no
constitutional
right
to
wear
a
total
erect
penis
on
the
side
of
the
road,”
would
shrivel
in
the
cold
reality
of
a
judicial
proceeding.
And
yet,
even
while
clearing
Gamble,
Judge
Snedeker
engaged
in
what
can
only
be
described
as
judicial
baby-splitting.
Concluding
that
he
didn’t
believe
Corporal
Babb
was
trying
to
suppress
Gamble’s
free
speech
rights,
Snedeker
suggested
there
“may
have
been”
enough
probable
cause
for
the
arrest
if
not
enough
to
convict.
It
strains
credulity
to
see
this
as
anything
other
than
an
attempt
to
stifle
her
free
speech
rights.
One
suspects
Judge
Snedeker
hoped
that
letting
Gamble
off
the
hook
while
patting
the
cops
on
the
head
and
telling
them
they
didn’t
do
anything
wrong
would
allow
everyone
to
walk
away
saving
face.
It
took
a
lot
of
judicial
hubris
to
think
that
would
work.
One
might
even
call
it…
cocky.
“As
Alabamians,
we
dare
to
defend
our
rights,”
[Gamble]
said.
“This
fight
is
not
over.”Her
attorney,
David
Gespass,
said
a
countersuit
accusing
the
Fairhope
Police
Department
of violating
Gamble’s
First
Amendment
rights is
likely.“This
is
the
only
reasonable
conclusion
the
judge
could
have
drawn,”
he
said.
“Whether
or
not
there
was
probable
cause,
as
the
judge
claimed
there
was,
that’s
another
question
for
another
time.
I
disagree
with
that
as
well.”
Maybe
ixnay
on
the
whole
“Alabamians
defend
their
rights”
talk.
That’s
historically
not
been
a
great
tagline.
Still,
in
this
case,
it
does
seem
as
though
Gamble
has
good
cause
to
pursue
the
case
further.
Since
Gamble’s
arrest,
the
local
No
Kings
protests
have
grown
to
nearly
1,200
attendees.
Gamble
herself
returned
to
a
recent
rally
—
masked
and
wearing
an
inflatable
eggplant
costume.
How
will
Babb
explain
that
costume
to
his
kids?!?
Joe
Patrice is
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A
Lawyer.
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