Arresting a person for profanity often violates the First Amendment

  Law enforcement officials should not assume that uttering profanity rises to the level of unlawful disorderly conduct. That is a lesson from a recent decision from a federal appeals court involving an Arkansas man thrown in jail for yelling a two-word expletive at an officer.

  Eric Roshaun Thurairajah was driving on a five-lane highway in Fort Smith, Ark., when he saw a police officer pulling over a minivan on the opposite of the road. The minivan contained a woman and two young children.