A federal court ruled last week that the town of Liberty, New York, violated then-22-year-old Willian Barboza’s First Amendment rights in 2012 when police officers arrested him for writing “FUCK YOUR SHITTY TOWN BITCHES” on a speeding ticket. Crossing out Liberty on a Liberty Town Court letterhead and replacing it with TYRANNY was also deemed protected free speech. The charges were dropped two years ago, but Barboza decided to file a First Amendment lawsuit with the help of the New York Civil Liberties Union. “I hope that by standing up for myself,” he said in a statement, “other Americans will not be treated like criminals for complaining about their government with a few harmless words.” This is perhaps the first case in American history where the First Amendment won and Liberty lost.
