"Truck Nuts"=Free Speech - You Decide!

[Ghostwriter]

Well now we get into ridiculous territory. First the little girls lemonade stands are shut down and now we can't haul our "nuts".

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/02...speech-debate/

On July 5, Virginia Tice, 65, from Bonneau, S.C. pulled her pickup truck into a local gas station with red, fake testicles dangling from the trailer hitch. The town's police chief, Franco Fuda, pulled up and asked her to remove the plastic testicles. When she refused, he wrote her a $445 ticket saying that she violated South Carolina’s obscene bumper sticker law.

The South Carolina code of laws reads, “a sticker, decal, emblem, or device is indecent … in a patently offensive way, as determined by contemporary community standards, sexual acts, excretory functions, or parts of the human body.”

[knight_shadow]

Those things are extremely stupid, but if people want to display them on their cars, more power to them.

[agzg]

Well... "parts of the human body" kindof covers it, no? Whether or not it's "protected speech" would be something for the courts to decide.

Also, I like truck nuts, for the very purpose of telling me what assholes to avoid on the roads.

[AOII Angel]

What's up with a woman hauling truck nuts? They're just gross. I agree with agzg, though, they do identify the assholes on the road.

[flirt5721]

I don't mind them. Not every one that has them are assholes. Although I do agree that cars stay away from trucks with them. I like for cars to stay away from me when I'm driving my truck. Then again I think the assholes are the little cars that think they can cut in front of a truck and not realize the truck is heavier and will take longer to stop.I think they are funny and just an accessory. I don't have them on my trucks yet but my husband is going to put them on.

[KSig RC]

Shouldn't the State's Rights advocates be all up in here defending SC's right to do awkward stuff like this?

I don't know what the State's compelling interest in banning truck nuts might be, but I don't know that truck nuts really impart information or ideas in ways commonly defined for freedom of expression. I'm for leaving well enough alone, but I'm generally for fewer laws rather than more, and I'm certainly not the litmus test.

Obscenity laws are among the most bizarre in the United States, though - hell, let's start with the notion of "community standards" as a test and just quit on it for good. I wouldn't touch them with a 10-foot pole (that has a glans and balls attached, of course).

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by flirt5721

I don't mind them. Not every one that has them are assholes.

Kind of like a necessary, but not sufficient, condition. Got it.

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by flirt5721

but my husband is going to put them on.

Really?

I never thought it was some sort of concious decision that made people want to put them on their truck. I always thought it was the result of someone going on a xanax and coke bender, waking up and being like "what the fuck did I do to my truck?"

[flirt5721]

Originally Posted by Elephant Walk

Really?

I never thought it was some sort of concious decision that made people want to put them on their truck. I always thought it was the result of someone going on a xanax and coke bender, waking up and being like "what the fuck did I do to my truck?"

My husband just likes them for some reason. I quit trying to figure out his logic.

[BraveMaroon]

I don't have a problem with them... but does this law mean that the Pro-Life bumper stickers with pix of fetuses on them are off-limits as well? I respect the right to everyone's point of view, but it's a body part of sorts and definitely a result of sexual acts.

Point being - I have no problem banning balls if the law is applied across the board, and not selectively.

[FHwku]

do "contemporary community standards" apply to which "parts of the human body" are deemed offensive? is Calvin's butt gonna be offensive when he's peeing on the Ford symbol?



i think truck nuts are funny, but i don't see them very often. i might see a pair on the interstate. i like trailer hitch boat propellers better.

and flirt's right, the little car narrowly slicing through traffic is the asshole to avoid.

[DrPhil]

Personal opinion:

As with any form of "free speech," it is fine as long as it doesn't impede on the speech of, or endanger, others. Being offensive based on some opinions and some standards is not enough.

I don't remember ever seeing truck nuts so it is probably not something so distracting and shocking as to cause a car accident. That stupid arm in the trunk of that truck, on the other hand.....

[BadRomance]

I remember seeing some on a truck while my friend and I were driving home. We thought they were pretty funny!

[AGDee]

When I was first (indecently) exposed to them (haha), I thought they must serve some purpose but just happened to resemble nuts. Y'all are telling me they intentionally look like nuts and are decorative?

*definitely avoiding men who have trucks with nuts* Honestly, I avoid most men who drive pick up trucks if they don't have a valid reason for driving them. There is something about the idea of buying a huge utility vehicle (think F150 or bigger) and then refusing to use it as a utility vehicle because the bed might get scratched. I don't get it. At all.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

I don't remember ever seeing truck nuts so it is probably not something so distracting and shocking as to cause a car accident. That stupid arm in the trunk of that truck, on the other hand.....

Most of the ones I've seen are silver or some other non-human color, but occasionally I've seen flesh colored ones. If I saw a woman driving a truck with them, I'd assume she's kin to Lorena Bobbitt.

But I'm all for Free Speech. Sometimes, Free Speech makes it really easy to identify the nuts. {rimshot}