I’m pretty confident that a subjective insult such as “You are an asshole” would be completely legal. I’m not so sure about more objective ones that cause specific harm but even then I imagine it is more a civil objection (claiming specific damages if a false accusation of fraud leads to reduced sales, etc) rather than criminal.
It is kind of illuminating the difference in culture here. I too am startled that calling someone an asshole is legally actionable, but you seem startled by the reverse. In both South Africa and the United States it is unthinkable that there could be legal consequences to calling someone an asshole.
According to my HS French teacher in France it’s considered a form of police brutality if a cop or prison guard calls an inmate “tu” instead of “vous”.
The one head of state or government I’ve met in person prefered to be addressed as “Helen”.
I’m not a lawyer, but I’ve never heard of this being an actionable offense in the US. Threatening someone, yes. But merely insulting someone? Not as far as I know.
Lawyer licensed in California, USA here. Anyone you meet on the street you can call an asshole or say fuck you, up to and including the President and Vice President (someone did it to Cheney a few years back) and the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. You can do it to the Pope should he be visiting, or even Queen Elizabeth II of the UK. You cannot be prosecuted for simply insulting someone. Calling someone a criminal when they are not is subject to a civil action.
My older students in Bulgaria often addressed me with the informal version of the verb, and I wasn’t a fan. My counterpart corrected them when they did it, but it didn’t stick too well. My littler kids were more polite and addressed me formally.
Such was the fate of the foreign teacher, I guess - they didn’t take me as seriously as they did their regular Bulgarian teachers.
I’m not certain what rules you are referring to, but rules and laws aren’t the same thing anyway.
You can’t slander someone by deliberately spreading false information that does damage to them and you can’t threaten them with harm. Other than that you can insult just about anyone without breaking a law. It really isn’t wise though. IANAL
And while calling the CEO of your company an asshole may not be prosecutable in the US, it would get you fired from most companies: it may not have legal consequences, but it has negative social and personal ones.
In Spain, the General Workers’ Law (and by extension, any sector or company’s general contract) includes “insulting coworkers, be they inferiors, equals or superiors” as a fireable offense. We wouldn’t consider using informal forms of address with a superior an insult, but calling the factory’s manager a whore definitely counts (that dude’s line, as reported to me, was “I’m not taking orders from that whore” a mí no me da órdenes esa puta, which includes a second fireable offense of “refusing to follow a superior’s orders”).
I refer to Congressman Wilson and his outburst during the last State of the Union address wherein he burst out with “YOU LIE!” at the President of the United States of America. It was a violation of all norms of American decorum, but not a violation of any law. You can applaud or harrumph a State of the Union, you can even boo without moving your lips (more of a “moo” sound), but what Congressman Wilson did was shocking. It made Congress look like even more of a fish market than it usually manages to cover up with its faux gentility.
I’m a trial lawyer. I don’t often sit through criminal arraignments and plea copping, but it happens occasionally. Convicted felons in jumpsuits, handcuffs and foot restraints manage to be polite in a court of law in this country. But an Oakland Raiders game has the fans shouting for 60 minutes straight the sort of things that Mr. Davis would fire a Raider for saying in a press interview.
That is really fascinating. I just looked up the German law, and it says insult is punishable by up to a year in prison, up to two if it’s coupled with an assault. Difference in culture indeed.
Now, of course you wouldn’t spend a year in prison for calling someone an asshole, but as you probably know, it’s not the only law in Germany that restricts free speech. (As a matter of fact, a couple of years ago, I was very surprised to learn that most Americans, at least on this board, disapprove of the German law against Holocaust denial.)
To expand on the US situation, say I get pulled over by a cop and know I haven’t been speeding, all my brake lights are working and there are no drugs in the glove box. I could not get in major trouble if I greeted the officer “Fuck off, pig!”? (Other than him inconveniencing me, but as I said, I’ve done nothing wrong.)
I’d say it’s a not recommended course of action, but I don’t think there’s anything illegal about it. lANAL, however, and the cops can make your life difficult. Here’s a Time Magazine article about it.
I’ve called cops some pretty awful names before without repurcussions. It’s just part of the deal. Criminal actions for insults would be barred by the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
Civil actions would only be available when you had a proper cause (such as slander) and damages. Most states require a physical harm before emtional damages can be considered when dealing with tortious activity in general. Long story short, if I call you an asshole, your remedy is to either ignore me or call me one as well. Freedom of speech is one of the paramount ideals of the US Constitution and American society. It is not taken lightly by the courts.
A few weeks ago while on a day trip to Napa I was driving along and saw California Highway Patrol officer using a radar or laser gun on the cars. I gave him the finger. He got in his car and pulled me over. (I do this to all law enforcement officers wasting taxpayer time intimidating the public with radar guns). He asked me why I think he pulled me over. I said it was because I flipped him off. He looked shocked and said he hadn’t seen it, but it was because I was speeding. I told him my car was set on cruise control and that the speed he said I was going at was a lie. This also surprised him. He asked me if I had a problem with police officers and I said no, that I had a problem with his time being used to point a radar gun at people. He let me off with a warning. Frankly, I expected a ticket for speeding, because I admitted going 66, which was 6 miles over the limit.
The point of this story is that free speech is legal and so is an insult that is not defamatory. And California takes that seriously. This would have got me serious jail time in Germany, my ancestral homeland.
I’ve done the flipping cops using radar thing so much it is reflexive. I in fact had a client in the car at the time and wish I hadn’t done it. We were doing a client appreciation lunch. He couldn’t stop talking about it the rest of the day.