On July 4, 2004, Jeff and Nicole Rank decided to go to a rally at the West Virginia capitol to see President Bush speak. They also decided to wear tee shirts sporting anti-Bush sentiments, and that was where their trouble began. After being asked repeatedly to remove their tee shirts or leave, they refused on the grounds they had the right to be there and they had as much right to wear tee shirts disapproving of the President as supporters did to wear supportive tee shirts. They were subsequently arrested, handcuffed and removed from the premises.

With the help of the ACLU, they filed a lawsuit against the government stating their First Amendment rights had been stomped on … and this week, the government settled out of court to the tune of $80,000.

It’s the occasional thing like this that gives me hope America isn’t totally screwed yet. I would have probably handled this whole mess differently had I been in their place. Instead of arresting me for trespassing, they’d have had to arrest me for indecent exposure, because after verifying that they really wanted me to remove my tee shirt, I probably would have done just that. The ranks handled that part of the situation better than I would have, obviously. But with the government wanting to settle out of court, I wouldn’t have settled. That case would have gone to court. Some things are more important than getting money, and when one party is willing to settle before the case is before a judge, that tends to mean that party feels they have significantly more to lose than what they are offering.

But still … at least America isn’t totally broken yet.