News You Can't Use: Riverside Woman Sues Over Her Arrest For Clapping

I often, and I do mean often, wonder how clapping got to be a socially acceptable way of demonstrating approval or admiration. Someone, somewhere, had to decide that hitting the flesh ends together needed to be a societal norm. Everyone else thought it was a good idea, for some reason. It's times like this I wish I was an evolutionary biologist so I could gin up some "just so" explanation about mating pressures and pack cohesion, but since I lack the scrap of paper and willingness to dissemble there's nothing for it. We imitate seals and no one questions it. Except for a city council meeting in Riverside.

If there's one thing I've learned doing these stories it's that formal city meetings don't take no jive.

A woman who was arrested after she repeatedly clapped at a Riverside City Council meeting has filed a federal lawsuit.

I was just trying to get a chant going: "I love zoning!" clap, clap clap. [repeat]

The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports that Letitia Pepper argues her constitutional rights were violated.

Life, liberty and the sacred, god-ordained right to slap your own skins to create annoying noise that resembles a teen boy during a "computer session."

Pepper, a longtime critic of Riverside government, was taken away in handcuffs last June. Authorities say she disrupted the meeting by repeatedly applauding speakers even after being warned by the mayor.

In Soviet America critic applauds for you!

However, she was never criminally charged.

The reward for this sanity was a huge nuisance lawsuit. Now I kinda see the logic in locking up these people.

In a statement, Bailey says the city tries to respect free speech rights at council meeting. He also says meeting rules aim to ensure that city business can be carried out without unnecessary disruptions.

That's a valid point and everything but consider this counter-argument...I want to hit my palms together!

I'm a political critic! This is protected by the first amendment!

Don't visit the ad-riddled source: http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2014/05/23/riverside-woman-sues-over-her-arrest-for-clapping/   

Honestly, a page full of b.s. ads that won't stop reloading...this is not change I can believe in.

Komment Korner  

More likely she is an acccccctivisssst, like our president.

Any pinko taking a dump on a police car can pretend to be a Tea Party member.

Mayor "Beetle" Bailey is not receptive to opinions unlike his.

Not knowing all the facts makes this a tough call.

This is what the Dimocrats want the whole country to be like.

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Aaron Zehner is the author of "Posts from the Underground," now available in paperback and e-book. Read a free excerpt here.

His first novel The Foolchild Invention is also available in paperback and e-book format. Read free excerpts here and here.