A judge has ordered an Alabama man to apologize or face jail after he told a police officer “Get your a** out of the way” during a traffic stop, per NBC News.
The case stems from a December traffic stop in Ozark, Alabama where Reginald Burks was pulled over for allegedly speeding while taking his son and daughter to school.
Burks said the officer told him that he was driving over the 25 mph speed limit. When Burks specifically asked how fast he was traveling, the officer said his radar gun was broken so he had used cruise control on his vehicle to estimate the driver's speed.
The driver told the officer he didn't believe that was a credible approach for a traffic stop. The officer wrote Burks a ticket and stood in front of his vehicle.
“He was standing there and wouldn’t move,” Burks recalled. “I had asked him politely at least twice.”
“I said, ‘Sir, step back, get out the way,’” he continued. “He said, ‘You can go. Go around.’”
Burks told the officer before driving off: “Get your a** out of the way so I can take my kids to school. That’s why y’all underpaid because y’all act dumb.”
Last month, Burks appeared in court prepared to plead guilty to speeding and pay the required fine. However, after Burks paid his fine, Ozark Municipal Court Judge Nicholas Bull ordered him to apologize to the officer for cursing at him.
Burks declined to write the apology. He has until his next court appearance on June 4 to submit the letter or he will be ordered to serve up to 30 days in jail.
“My client is being punished for a protected speech that has got nothing to do with the traffic situation, which to me is just good ol’ boy Alabama,” attorney David Harrison said in a statement. “And what I mean by that is that this system is not equal for African Americans and white people.”
“This man is being convicted for something they couldn’t charge him with and win at trial,” Harrison continued. “The crime here is not apologizing and that’s my issue. It’s not constitutionally sound. It’s probably the most unsound decision that I’ve seen in 33 years of practicing law.”
Burks said he's prepared to go to jail because he believes his constitutional rights are being violated. Alabama law bars the use of “abusive or obscene language” in public, but Burks isn't facing charges of disorderly conduct. The driver said he also doesn't believe the word "a**" is prohibited under the law.
“It’s not a curse word,” Burks said. “It’s in the Bible.”
“I think I deserve an apology and my kids deserve an apology before he does,” he added. “Because they got a tardy in school.”
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