Pittsburgh Prepping Big Payday For Driver Who Flipped Off CopFederal Lawsuit Claimed Middle Finger Gesture Was Protected SpeechPOSTED: 4:36 pm EST November 23,
2009 PITTSBURGH -- City Council may approve paying $50,000 to settle a free speech lawsuit filed by a man cited for giving a city police officer the middle finger in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill area.David Hackbart, 35, of Butler, said he made the gesture at another driver while trying to back into a parking space on Murray Avenue in April 2006."After inching back toward him to give him the message I was trying to park, he wouldn't (move)," Hackbart told WTAE Channel 4 Action News on Tuesday. "I got very frustrated and I flipped him off."But Hackbart wasn't done using his middle finger."I heard a voice outside the car telling me not to do that and that frustrated me too. So, I flipped that person off and that turned out to be a police officer," Hackbart said. "I tried to explain to him it was constitutionally protected, what I did. He did not want to hear it and gave me a citation."Video -
 Hear From David HackbartThe American Civil Liberties Union sued on Hackbart's behalf, saying the gesture was constitutionally protected speech, and a federal judge postponed the trial indefinitely at the request of attorneys on both sides.A spokesman for Councilman Bill Peduto, who chairs the council's finance committee, told Channel 4 Action News that the settlement was introduced at Monday's council meeting and will be voted on next week.In basic terms, the city's administration office on behalf of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl sends a request to the city's legal department, saying it would like to settle, and then the council must vote on the matter.Hackbart said his lawsuit was about change -- not money."Put some sort of policy in place that the officers are trained better and there is some sort of supervision in officers writing tickets so people don't have to go through what I went through," Hackbart said.And he said there's a lesson for all to learn from his obscene gesture."I don't advocate people using the middle finger for (any) reason, any situation, 24 hours a day, but if someone ran across a certain situation in mind, at least he knows his rights," Hackbart said.Of the proposed $50,000 settlement, Hackbart said he would receive only $10,000. His lawyers and the ACLU would split the remaining $40,000.
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