Opinion

Bird is the word

A federal appeals court has just ruled that Americans have a First Amendment right to act like jerks in public. At least as far as flipping off a cop is concerned.

Sigh.

The US Court of Appeals for the 2d Circuit reinstated a lawsuit by a retired airline pilot who’d been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after waving a middle finger at an upstate speed-trap cop.

The ex-pilot, John Swartz, admits, “It’s not something I’m proud of.”

Fine. At least he’s not a total moron.

But he also thinks cops had no right to place him in handcuffs and take him into custody simply for making the gesture.

Truth be told, they probably didn’t.

Way back in 2006, Swartz was riding in a car driven by his then-fiancée in St. Johnsville, northwest of Albany, when he spotted Officer Richard Insogna parked with a radar speed-tracking device.

Instinctively, he said, he flipped Insogna the bird, believing the cop should have been chasing more dangerous culprits.

Despite the fact that Swartz wasn’t speeding — or doing anything illegal — Insogna followed him home.

Both sides agree that the two exchanged increasingly angry words, after which Swartz was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct (“incredibly obnoxious conduct” not being a criminal offense).

The charge eventually was dropped, but Swartz filed a civil-rights suit, charging malicious prosecution.

A lower court dismissed the case, but a three-judge federal panel has reinstated it.

Granted, flipping off a cop is the kind of gesture not normally seen in rural upstate — most NYPD officers would probably ignore it.

But the facts do suggest that Officer Insogna overreacted just a bit.

Still, it’s sad that even small-town society grows more coarse by the day.