I thought your post was outstanding. If I ever move back to Las Vegas, I'll be sure to look you up!
Oh yeah next time your stopped and detained, make sure your recorder hears you mention that you were not DC, you were simply redressing Government grievences peacefuly.
I would like to make a note of this, however, as "redressing Government grievance" requires a grievance. OC is not a redress of anything. It's a lawful activity in Deleware:
"
Delaware is an open carry state. Those doing so should be aware that any local ordinances that were in effect at the time that preemption was passed (July 4, 1985) are still in effect and are NOT preempted." -
Source
When the law enforcement officer slapped you with a disorderly conduct charge as you were peacably going about your law-abiding activity, they created a grievance which could then be redressed.
Thus, I would change your recommendation to: "The next time you're stopped and detained, make sure your recorder hears you state you are
peacably engaged in a lawful activity."
I am an OC rookie and I have been slapped with a disorderly conduct ticket for carrying my firearm properly holstered in public. I don't understand why this happened I follow all the laws in my state(DE)when it comes to open carry. Has this happened to anyone before in DE?
First, definately get a lawyer. Try
SuperLawyers.com. There's no additional charge; they're simply recognized by clients and their peers as among the best. Select from categories such as "criminal defense" or "civil rights/first amendment." If you find a lawyer listed in both categories, that's a bonus.
However, you might also contact the ACLU, as your civil rights were definately downtrodden, and it's the sort of case behind which they enjoy throwing your weight. More on the civil rights aspect in a minute.
In the meantime, let's take a look at what a disorderly conduct charge actually means:
Merriam-Webster: "a petty offense chiefly against public order and decency that falls short of an indictable misdemeanor"
The "public order and decency" category is both fairly broad and easily abused by law enforcement.
Wikipedia: "...disorderly conduct statutes give police officers and other authorities fairly broad discretion to arrest people whose activities they find undesirable for a wide variety of reasons." -
Source
In short, it sucks, but the good news is that most courts realize it sucks to be slapped with a DC charge when one is engaged in lawful activity.
Case in point. Or, as Wikipedia puts it: "The courts confronted with cases stemming from these arrests have from time to time had occasion to restrict the broad and vague definitions of the statute to make certain that freedom of speech and assembly and other forms of protected expression under the First Amendment were not affected."
That goes for the Second Amendment, as well, as both the First and the Second were created together, and both are issues involving civil rights.
Now, let's examine Delaware Code - Section 1301: DISORDERLY CONDUCT; UNCLASSIFIED MISDEMEANOR:
A person is guilty of disorderly conduct when:
(1) The person intentionally causes public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm to any other person, or creates a risk thereof by:
a. Engaging in fighting or in violent, tumultuous or threatening behavior; or
b. Making an unreasonable noise or an offensively coarse utterance, gesture or display, or addressing abusive language to any person present; or
c. Disturbing any lawful assembly or meeting of persons without lawful authority; or
d. Obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic; or
e. Congregating with other persons in a public place and refusing to comply with a lawful order of the police to disperse; or
f. Creating a hazardous or physically offensive condition which serves no legitimate purpose; or
g. Congregating with other persons in a public place while wearing masks, hoods or other garments rendering their faces unrecognizable, for the purpose of and in a manner likely to imminently subject any person to the deprivation of any rights, privileges or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States of America.
(2) The person engages with at least 1 other person in a course of disorderly conduct as defined in paragraph (1) of this section which is likely to cause substantial harm or serious inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, and refuses or knowingly fails to obey an order to disperse made by a peace officer to the participants.
Disorderly conduct is an unclassified misdemeanor.
That's it. Let's examine it in detail, and refute why OC is not DC (I'm using the quote function, as it's easier to keep things separate):
A person is guilty of disorderly conduct when:
(1) The person intentionally causes public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm to any other person, or creates a risk thereof by:
Your OC may have caused someone, including the officer, alarm.
The $10,000 question is: Did he require you to turn over your firearm, or after writing the ticket, did he let you walk away with your firearm?
But the $50,000 question is does it meet any of the "by" requirements as specifically required in section (1)? Let's examine each one as they pertain to the peacably OC of a firearm in a state where OC is legal:
a. Engaging in fighting or in violent, tumultuous or threatening behavior; or
Absolutely not. The cop might argue "threatening behavior," but when taken in the context of item a., it's not at all of the same class. Item a.'s "threatening behavior" would include such things as advancing towards someone with a glare in your eye and your fists raised, ready for battle. Walking down the sidewalk while legally OCing is not "threatening behavior."
quote]b. Making an unreasonable noise or an offensively coarse utterance, gesture or display, or addressing abusive language to any person present; or [/quote]
Thise include such things as profanity, telling people to ef-off, giving them the bird, or the older version using one's entire forearm. They do not include the peacably legal open carry of a firearm.
c. Disturbing any lawful assembly or meeting of persons without lawful authority; or
You weren't disturbing a lawful assembly or meeting of persons. If such a meeting or assembly of persons was disturbed solely by your legal OC, then you had lawful authority from DE state law to legally OC. If ancillary to that they were disturbed, then you've met the "with lawful authority" defense of this item.
d. Obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic; or
Nope.
e. Congregating with other persons in a public place and refusing to comply with a lawful order of the police to disperse; or
Nope.
f. Creating a hazardous or physically offensive condition which serves no legitimate purpose; or
Nope, for both OC and the RKBA have been recognized by DE law as serving a legitimate purpose (self-defense).
g. Congregating with other persons in a public place while wearing masks, hoods or other garments rendering their faces unrecognizable, for the purpose of and in a manner likely to imminently subject any person to the deprivation of any rights, privileges or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States of America.
Nope.
(2) The person engages with at least 1 other person in a course of disorderly conduct as defined in paragraph (1) of this section which is likely to cause substantial harm or serious inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, and refuses or knowingly fails to obey an order to disperse made by a peace officer to the participants.
Were you alone? If so, then nope.
Disorderly conduct is an unclassified misdemeanor.
So, the answer is no on all accounts. This is easily defensible in court. Get a lawyer and defeat it.
Have the lawyer ask the judge for compensation of reasonable attorneys' fees from the officer's Police Department, based on the fact that law-abiding citizens shouldn't be deprived of their hard-earned dollars because those charged with the responsibility of enforcing the law aren't responsible enough to actually know the law. Add that such compensation will be an appropriate punative measure towards the department of sufficient caliber to encourage them to provide better training for their officers.