The “Bushit” case may not be bullshit after all. A Georgia nurse who was ticketed by a traffic cop for displaying a bumper sticker with the message “I'm Tired of All the Bushit” is close to settling her First Amendment case against the DeKalb County police department.

The county had moved for summary judgment, claiming, among other things, that Sgt. R.S. Caviness believed the bumper sticker to read “Bullshit.” He cited Denise Grier, who had not committed a traffic violation, under an obsolete Georgia law that prohibited lewd or profane stickers and decals on vehicles.

Grier argues that the county is liable for continuing to provide criminal codes to officers which say they can arrest people for violations of O.C.G.A § 40-1-4 even though the Georgia Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in 1991.

But a court document shows the litigation has been stayed until Jan. 4, 2008 so the parties “may engage in further settlement discussions.” The plaintiff was seeking unspecified damages and a court order declaring her bumper sticker “protected by the United States and Georgia Constitutions.”

The bumper of the white Chrysler that Grier was driving on March 10, 2006 was a virtual bulletin board of anti-Bush sentiment, with other stickers reading “Duck Fubya” and “George W. Bush: Making Terrorists as Fast as he can Kill Them.”

Caviness had a laptop computer in his police cruiser which included the digital version of Gould Publications' Georgia criminal and traffic law handbook. After pulling Grier over and finding the decal law on his laptop, he issued the $100 citation.

“I stopped her for what I believed was a valid law on a lewd and profane decal that she had affixed to her bumper,” Caviness said in a deposition.

Grier's ticket was dismissed three weeks later because of the Supreme Court's decision in Cunningham v. State, 400 S.E.2d 916 (1991). The ACLU filed a civil-rights complaint on her behalf in October 2006, alleging the county “has customarily arrested and detained persons for violations of O.C.G.A § 40-1-4 despite the statute's unconstitutionality.”

Naturally, the county cried bullshit, arguing that no “reasonable government agent in the position of Sgt. Caviness would have known that he was violating federal law” and Grier could not prove the stop was politically motivated.

“During the stop, Sgt Caviness and the Plaintiff did not discuss politics, the President, or whether the Plaintiff’s bumper stickers were political statements,” the county said in its summary judgment motion.

Grier, who moved for partial summary judgment, contends the case boils down to two facts -- “one is that the plaintiff still has the ‘Bushit’ sticker on her car and is not removing it. The other is that DeKalb County continues to supply its officers with the Gould [software] which continues to list O.C.G.A. § 40-1-4 as a valid statute.”

The joint motion for a stay says the parties have agreed that “it would be advantageous, and perhaps ultimately fruitful, to continue their discussions while the litigation remains stayed.”

In another Bush-related civil-rights suit, Upper Darby Township, Pa., has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to an 82-year-old doctor who was arrested at a Bush campaign event for displaying a sign opposing the war in Iraq. As On Point previously reported, a federal judge denied a defense motion to exclude evidence identifying Bush as the candidate who spoke at a fundraiser in September 2003.

By Matt Reynolds
12/11/07