more on "Monday"

[Victor Steinbok]

For cops, there is no "own time". They are either on-duty or off-duty,
but they always represent the police force. This is the reason why he is
singled out relative to the regular hecklers who likely would have been
ignored (or, if identified, just banned from the ballpark).

     VS-)

On 7/24/2012 11:16 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
> At 7/24/2012 08:50 AM, Amy West wrote:
>> My point is probably moot: I believe in the coverage the off-duty
>> admitted using it as a general insult, but not a specifically racial
>> one, so the intent was there to insult but not on a "hate speech" basis.
>> And note that the ball player *knew* the racial insult sense, which the
>> cop says he didn't. So I guess the philosophical question comes down to
>> Is the off-duty cop being a jerk or a bigoted jerk on his own time?
> Or perhaps a bigoted jerk who is smart enough to know (or to have a
> lawyer who knows) that the legal punishment and moral disapprobation
> for a hate crime are more severe than for a general insult* (whether
> he is found guilty by a state court or by his town's civil service
> authority).  That would be true in Massachusetts, but I don't know
> about New Hampshire, where the "crime" occurred.
>
> * Even if "general insult" is not a misdemeanor, it would be
> disapprobated less than a hate insult.
>
> And was it on his own time?  Was he on paid detail as the ballpark,
> or just visiting?  Aren't police officers bound by conduct rules at
> all times, even when off-duty, as the military are?
>
> Joel

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