Court Opinion

ID: 9648704
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 14:33:05.364434+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:12:04.684532
License: Public Domain

ROBERTS, Justice,
concurring and dissenting opinion.
I agree with the majority that appellant’s conviction for obstructing the administration of law must be affirmed. The record clearly establishes that appellant’s abusive, threatening remarks to Ms. Young caused her fear and alarm and prevented her from properly performing her duties as a meter maid.
I cannot agree, however, that the Commonwealth has produced sufficient evidence to convict appellant of disorderly conduct. There is simply nothing in this record to suggest that appellant’s remarks, shocking and unpardonable as they are, produced “unreasonable noise.” 18 Pa.C.S.A. *266§ 5503(a)(2). This subsection of the statute is plainly not intended to criminalize speech and I would not sanction its use in such a way. I would reverse the judgment of sentence based only on appellant’s conviction for disorderly conduct and affirm judgment of sentence for obstructing the administration of law.