NEW YORK—While a Criminal Courts of New York judge ruled earlier this year that condoms bearing images of President Barack Obama, Sen. John McCain and former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin are protected as free speech, the NYPD seems to disagree.
Benjamin Sherman, who at one time had 40 vendors selling the condoms in New York City, said only three vendors remain because others were not willing to be arrested for vending without a license and spend 72 hours in jail waiting to be arraigned.
Sherman and the sellers went to court to argue that because the condoms are political in nature, they are protected as free speech and therefore no vendor license is required. Judge Lynn R. Kotler agreed, and gave sellers like Jose Andujar a letter that serves as written proof that he can sells the prophylactics without a license.
Despite the law on his side, however, Andujar has been arrested twice in the past several weeks, the New York Metro newspaper reports.
“I pay my taxes. I have a letter from a judge,” Andujar told the newspaper. “I don’t know why they think it’s illegal. The NYPD is going rogue.”
NYPD officials only commented to the paper to say that vendors are required to display a license.
“I am hoping to bring attention to this story and hope that we can get the NYPD to stop arresting our vendors now that the [Criminal Courts of New York] has said that we can vend them,” said Sherman.
