“Pussy + Bitch” bumper stickers run afoul of city law

By CAROLYN SZCZEPANSKI

Cory Bishop was already on his way to meet with the cops when he got pulled over in early May. The 20-year-old construction worker was driving to Sharky’s restaurant in Harrisonville — a town 35 miles southeast of Kansas City — to chat with a police detective who had some questions about a brawl five months earlier. Before Bishop got to the pool hall, though, his Ford F150 pickup truck caught the attention of another squad car.

When Bishop got pulled over, the officer told him it was because the truck’s taillights were out. But when the Peculiar resident got his citations in the mail a few days later, he had a ticket that took him by surprise. He knew he’d been busted for the broken taillights and not having his vehicle registration in his glove box. But he didn’t know he’d run afoul of city law by displaying an “indecent” bumper sticker.

Now, the local American Civil Liberties Union is taking steps to ensure Harrisonville citizens’ First Amendment rights are protected — even if it’s the right to bear bumpers stickers of Calvin grabbing his crotch.