A middle finger may not be the ideal way to express your frustration with someone, but it remains protected under the First Amendment.
Nikolas Cruz, accused of shooting 17 at Parkland high school last February, has an attorney from Florida representing him who appeared to give cameras the middle finger during a pre-sentencing hearing. She is now being investigated by her state bar association over what appears to be improper conduct during that hearing.
Keith Davis Jr.
Keith Davis Jr. has faced three trials since 2015 and each time has come back out shackled – but Kelly, his wife, has been relentless in her determination to clear his name and free him.
At its outset, this case was flawed. News accounts repeatedly misquoted police claims that Holden identified Davis as his attacker–even though she hadn’t said so herself–while also maintaining that Davis came into the repair shop armed.
Baltimore’s seemingly intractable police corruption problem further undermined this case. Mark Veney, who led the initial investigation of Davis in the garage, later was discovered tampering with evidence and one of Catherine Filippou’s officers who shot Davis has since resigned and now stands accused of drug trafficking; she served as key testimony at his trial.
Tamara Curtis
Florida attorney Tamara Curtis was caught giving cameras the middle finger during Nikolas Cruz’s school shooting trial and is under investigation by the State Bar Association, according to NBC News’ sources. A spokesperson from this body confirmed to NBC News that Curtis is under consideration but would not comment further.
The Bar conducts written inquiries involving lawyers’ conduct, but only opens disciplinary files on 25 percent of those cases. Curtis was caught this summer rubbing her face with her middle finger before attending a pretrial hearing and laughing with Cruz before laughing off their actions, for which both the judge in her case as well as several family members of victims admonished her later on.
The gesture commonly known as flipping the bird has long been recognized by historians as the digitus impudicus, or indecent finger. For centuries it has served as a sign of disapproval and today it still communicates an implied message: this is what I think about you.” But not everyone agrees that flipping the bird constitutes an inappropriate gesture.
Maria Reynal
The middle finger has long been associated with disobedience and disrespect since Roman times, even being employed in courtrooms as an expression of disdain or scorn. Reynal appears in an online video giving camera the middle finger while discussing evidence with Judge Bickford; Reynal is a federal prosecutor with experience prosecuting white-collar crime cases, public corruption investigations and major drug trafficking cases while also serving on Organized Crime Strike Forces and extensive litigation experience in defending insurance claims; she has made seven deployments to Iraq/Afghanistan from platoon through battalion level for Air Assault Stryker formations to light infantry formations during her military service career spanning from platoon level through battalion level!