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Florida Driver Refuses to Remove Obscene Sticker on Pickup Truck, is Arrested

A Florida driver is going up against the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, after a trooper arrested him for possession and distribution of obscene material, i.e. having an obscene sticker on his Chevrolet pickup truck.
Florida driver cites freedom of speech in refusal to remove obscene sticker from car 13 photos
Photo: lakecityreporter.com
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The incident occurred last weekend, but the driver, identified as 23-year-old Dillon Shane Webb, plans to fight the charge citing First Amendment rights, Lake City Reporter notes. He says the trooper violated his freedom of speech when he told him to remove the sticker from the window of the truck.

Webb was driving on I-90 when he was pulled over by the trooper. The cop had noticed the sticker, which read “I eat a*s,” and summoned Webb to stop. He informed him that displaying obscene material on his Chevrolet truck came in violation of Florida Statute 847.011 and asked him how a “parent of a small child would explain the meaning of the words,” according to the police report.

Webb argued that the sticker was “just words” and added that it would be up to the parent how he’d explain them to their kid, so definitely not his concern. The trooper then asked Webb to cover one of the Ss in on the sticker, so as to make it less obscene, but Webb refused. He argued that it was within his rights to have the sticker on his personal car.

The trooper took a photo of the sticker and arrested Webb, placing him in the patrol car. The passenger traveling in the Chevrolet was let go without incident.

“Webb was taken to Columbia County Detention Facility 'without incident, where he was charged with obscene writing on vehicles and resisting an officer without violence,' the [police] report states,” the Reporter informs. Both charges are first-degree misdemeanors, but Webb intends to challenge them.

The Drive notes that, based on precedent alone, it looks like Webb stands good winning chances: in 2 separate instances, Alabama and Georgia ruled favorably in the case of having obscene materials on cars in 1991, after the drivers cited the First Amendment.
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About the author: Elena Gorgan
Elena Gorgan profile photo

Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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