Harassment - Giving the finger to someone in public.

I recently have encountered a friend who has been charged with harassment in the State of New York. Essentially the criminal complaint of harassment carries only a penalty of a violation (not even a misdemeanor) with penalties of a few days in jail or a small fine.

So far, in my research I have found that the NYS Court of Appeals has struck down a former portion of the NYS Harassment statute in a case called People v. Dietze.

In Dietze, it was determined that calling a woman a "bitch" and her daughter who was mentally deficient a hor, and stating that "some day or night out on the street I am going to get you" did not constitute harassment and that the statute was unconstitutionally vague.

To me, given the 1st A...