Crazy ex-cop lawyer John Clifford gets free rein to terrorize LIRR riders

You know what annoys me? Vigilantes.

A 60-year-old cop-turned-lawyer will face no legal sanctions for his aggressive self-assigned mission to "restore civility" to the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) by bullying other passengers.

Judge Larry Stephens of the Manhattan Criminal Court found John Clifford of Long Beach man not guilty of third degree assault, petit larceny, and other charges stemming from an incident on the train in March. Clifford raged at a 19-year-old passenger and twice slapped the hand of a woman who offered up her business card.

Clifford has been arrested or ticketed on the LIRR many times since 1993 for a variety of alleged infractions, including punching a woman, tossing a cup of coffee in a man's face, throwing an egg sandwich on a woman's hair, menacing, and grabbing the cell phones of others, according to Gothamist.

Such tactics are reminiscent of Taliban enforcers and the Iranian morality police, who impose social order through threats, violence, and social shaming. Yes, inconsiderate cell phone users are annoying, but by letting Clifford get away disruptive, intimidating, and even violent behavior, we are sanctioning the same kind of extra-judicial bullying.

At trial, Clifford did not deny that that he confronted the passengers in the manner described, according to media reports. On the contrary he remained proud and defiant about what he considered to be a defense of his right to be left alone.

The judge found "no criminal intent" in Clifford's behavior.

LIRR commuters "think it's their absolute right to talk as loud as they want," Clifford said on the stand. "It's my intention to keep people from annoying me."

The charges stemmed from a March 28, 2007, incident where commuter Nicholas Bender, 19, was sitting behind Clifford and speaking on his cell phone. Clifford snapped his fingers repeatedly at Bender to insist that he quiet down.

Bender, who was learning about his cousin's kidney failure during the conversation, according to the prosecution, ignored Clifford. The prosecution said Clifford cursed at Bender and called him a slur.

Fellow commuter Lydia Klein, who according to published reports works as a financial adviser in Manhattan, attempted to hand Bender her business card as on offer of assistance. Clifford allegedly tried to take the card from her and slapped her hand twice.

On Tuesday, prosecutor Mary Weisgerber questioned people who claimed to be familiar with Clifford's behavior. Donna DeCurtis, who also rides the Long Beach line, said she was "petrified" of Clifford. "I avoided him at all costs," she said on the stand. [AP]

Clifford defended himself against the criminal charges and posed for photographs smoking a victory cigar outside the courthouse.

John Clifford should be disbarred for his outlandish behavior and kicked out of the auxiliary police force. He is tarnishing the reputation of the legal profession and the criminal justice system at large. His behavior sends the message that 6'4" white guys can terrorize New Yorkers with impunity and brag about it.

Here's the information associated with Clifford's New York law license:

JOHN A. CLIFFORD
Registration number: 1904705
JOHN A CLIFFORD ATTORNEY AT LAW
370 W BROADWAY APT
5W LONG BEACH, NY 11561-3957
United States
(212) 512-1679

Here's the number for the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court which regulates and disciplines lawyers in Nassau and Suffolk Counties: (516) 364-7344.

Comments

[The Phantom]

Some of Clifford's methods may have been unsound, but give the man massive props for doing something.

I don't ride the LIRR, but I know many who do, including the Long Beach line. It may interest you that all of those who I spoke with like and respect Clifford. They think that he's right.

Many LIRR riders, including those on the very slow Long Branch line, have commutes of over one hour each way on the LIRR. During that time, they are assaulted by people shouting into cell phones. ( Which is what cell phone users typically do )

Maybe you're OK with someone shouting one row behind you for an hour, but I am not. And if the MTA/LIRR and the goofoff conductors who staff its trains will not bring order to the situation, then its left to public minded citizens like Clifford to do it for them.

And I'm not sure that I will automatically buy into Bender's "medical emergency" story. Sounds a little deus en machine if you ask me.

John Clifford should be given an award for his outstanding behavior and given an award by both the bar association and the auxiliary police!

[The Crapture]

if being that sort of douchebag is Mr. Clifford's idea of "restoring civility," then i am surprised that, attorney or not, someone on that train hasn't just hauled off and politely decked him

[The Phantom]

From what I hear, most of the passengers would have leapt to Clifford's defense!

[Chowderhead]

It took me a moment to realize the first line was a joke. Really this is simple, people should act civil in public.

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

If you feel someone's being inconsiderate, a simple and respectful request to "please keep your voice down" will probably be effective and much appreciated by other passengers.

If that doesn't work, drop it.

I don't want my seat mate to be a self-appointed arbiter of socially acceptable behavior.

[The Phantom]

Which means that the bad guys always win. Because they will respond to your respectful request by telling you to go f*** yourself.

I just called my friend who rode the Long Beach line for years, until very recently.

There were the cell phone idiots shouting on the phone( who trust me were not talking about medical emergencies )

There was the group of girls who took up three seats apiece and shouted across the aisle to another, including vulgar language. If other passengers tried to take one of the free seats they would be yelled at.

This is real life, and not dismissed as one off incidents --they're not -- or as minor incidents.

They are big quality of life problems, and people should not have to put up with them. For the most part, the conductors do not care, as its not in their job description and because they don't know which passenger will be the one to take a swing at them or worse.

Which is why Clifford should be praised. If I were the judge, I'd have fined him one cent for the times he went over the top, and simultaneously give him an LIRR Award for good citizenship.

I would not do what he has done -- though I once asked a cellphone dimwit on a bus to keep it down.

But until someone comes up with a better answer, Clifford is the answer!

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

The real solution, is either to take the trouble to consistently enforce social norms and/or lobby to change the rules across the board.

Someone who's determined to use his cellphone in the face of your disapproval may "win", but your average yakker will probably quiet down and learn a lesson. People hate to be rebuked in public.

Everyone loves to complain about other people who talk on the phone on public transportation, but I don't see a groundswell of support to ban phones from trains. It's already against the rules to play music that's audible to anyone else on the MTA, even if it's just sound leaking out of your ear buds.

My suspicion is that everyone wants the option of using their phone from time to time. We don't really want a ban, we just want people to exercise some restraint and consideration. That's what mild social pressure is for.

[The Phantom]

Sure -- I use my cellphone from time to time on public transportation. But I keep the calls short if the train is crowded, and I make a conscious effort to keep the volume of my voice low --easy to do, and you are still heard by the person you speak to.

It should not be necessary for any passenger to tell others to do this ...this is the fault of the ignorant who shout, but moreso of the the transportation companies that do not address the issue at all.

And wait until you have cellphones on airplanes in flight, like our stupid European friends are about to permit. Prepare for many more and more severe air rage incidents.

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

The person who's annoyed isn't always right. Most of the time, it doesn't even matter who's "right." That's not what being considerate is about.

The average person will go to great lengths to do what's expected of them in a social situation. Sure, there are some punks who like pissing people off, but they're by far the minority.

If you don't voice your preferences, and there's no explicit rule in force, you lose the high ground. It's pretty self-centered to expect that your preferences should be the standard that all decent people adhere to, without even being told.

Maybe there'd be fewer incidents of overwhelming rage if people actually talked to each other instead of seething.

[parse]

Some of Clifford's methods may have been unsound. . .

Phantom, isn't that what they said about Col. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now?

[The Phantom]

Disagree completely. I will have no trouble speaking up once in a while, but many--more than you think-- will never feel comfortable doing so. They should not be pushed around.

If you can hear a cell phone conversation from six rows back, the talker is wrong, all the time.

If someone is taking up three seats while seeing that other passengers are forced to stand, they are wrong --all the time. Most passengers don't do this, but a lot do.

Every train ride should not be a negotiation between the strong and the weak.

[The Phantom]

parse

An intentional reference! I liked that line. " His methods had become unsound " So...detached!

[trollbait]

"Clifford is unapologetic about his bullying behavior, claiming that it's his first amendment right to berate people who annoy him and laughing as he describes the time he punched a woman in the face"

It may be his right to berate people, but it is also their right to be talking on a cell phone in the first place. And guess what, if you are unwilling to put up with people being obnoxious with their rights, then you truly don't believe in extending the right to all, and deserve it when the right is lost.

Besides, people don't have a right to hit or throw food on someone else. This guy is worse than the loud talkers. They are just rude. He is a bully.

[The Phantom]

Ah, but my right to extend my arm ends where your nose begins

In a confined environment, where people often travel over two hours a day total, it is not reasonable that any passenger should ever have to tolerate shouting --cuz that is what it is-- into a cell phone. Because their right to talk ends where the innocent passenger's ear begins...people cannot rest, people cannot read, etc.

And the incivility is not just with cell phones. It is taking more than one seat, shouting across aisles, etc.

[chris_h]

Just a question Phantom, if I hear you voicing an opinion I disagree with can I punch you in the face and yell at you.

Is that being civil?

If you allow people to assault other people for behavior they disagree with where does it end?

[parse]

In a confined environment, where people often travel over two hours a day total, it is not reasonable that any passenger should ever have to tolerate shouting

Phantom, if it's not reasonable that any passenger should ever have to tolerate shouting, the they shouldn't have to tolerate from Clifford any more than they should have to tolerate it from cell phone users. From the various newspaper accounts, Clifford's behavior seems to create more of a nuisance than the targets of his efforts. You--and Clifford--apparently think he's part of the solution, but it seems to me as though he is part of the problem.

Do you really think that someone who screams that an obnoxious cell phone user is a "fucking faggot" is "restoring civility"?

As you point out, the incivility is not just with cell phones. It is taking more than one seat, shouting across aisles--and it's definitely punching a woman, tossing a cup of coffee in a man's face, throwing an egg sandwich on a woman's hair, menacing, and grabbing the cell phones of others.

[The Phantom]

I said that his methods were unsound.

But he was reacting to unacceptable situations. Fix the problem and you won't have to worry about guys like that.

The blame for the problems here are a) the rude passengers, b) the LIRR, and only then c) the man of unsound methods

[The Phantom]

--The blame with the problems here rests with....--

[voxy]

well, I for one, will be happy to voice my opinion that mr. clifford is way overboard.
Pretty soon he'll bring his biker friends.
Oh, that's right, you aren't IN Florida.
That's what they do here in Florida.
Bikers/cops/attorneys .. same thing.

Although I really can't understand why ANYONE talking on a cellphone wants to shrae every last excruciating detail of their lives with the world. Very rude.
They should give some people lucite boxes to walk around in. Head to toe.

[The Phantom]

Or retrofit a Cone of Silence at every seat.

Problem solved?

[parse]

Phantom, what your ranking system doesn't acknowledge is that Clifford is a rude passenger on the LIRR.

[Lancelot Link]

Well, I find cigar smoke to be more offensive than someone talking on a cellphone (unless they're driving), to say nothing of punching people in the face.

[brent]

Lots of people find all sorts of things rude. I know people who are offended by people who wear hats indoors. I have been called rude for carrying on political arguments in a bar. And I think many of us will remember "Spezzatura's" bizarre and violent obsession with baseball caps. That was disquieting.

In any case, the point is that part of living in a free society is that many people will often do things that annoy you or offend your sense of politeness. But the fact that you are bothered by a particular sort of behavior does not give you the right to physically coerce others into obeying your sensibilities. If it did, things would be much less pleasant for all of us to say the least.

It is also part of the rules of a free society that most people adopt certain patterns of polite behavior based upon social pressure to exhibit such behavior in public settings. That is our mechanism and our most appropriate and effective tool to try and control such behavior even if it is never 100% effective.

Physically bullying people does not seem to me to be either appropriate or as likely to be effective in the long run, setting aside that this sort of behavior is far more offensive to me than the rudeness it is meant to combat. I have never been especially bothered by people who talk on their cellphones in public places. It is really pretty easy for me to shut it out. But I would be extremely bothered by one person attempting to physically intimidate another in that same setting.

To use another example, I hate people who talk in movie theaters but I hate the people who start shouting matches with them quite a bit more. However bad it is to deal with the first jerk, the one who decides to start an extended argument over the first person's behavior is the one who has finally ruined the movie for me.

[Margalis]

"I said that his methods were unsound."

You also said he deserves a medal.

You apparently say a lot of silly things.

[angman]

ok duchbag/ journalist ,you are another a**hole trying to gain notoriety limbing on the back of a justifed campaign of of a decent individual demanding civility amongst congregated people using mass transit ,listen twatwad or twitwad ,want to do some worthwhile? how about ranting about the piece of shit cong. rep.carollyn mahoney who got her mantle on the bodies of her dead husband and son murdered by colin furgerson on a LIRR train ,among numerous other people who were slain by this scum ,on ban all guns platform ,looking at this senario through a pane of glass made from reality ,if someone the LIRR train that fatefull was carrying a firearm and killed colin fergerson before he murdered the numerous people he did ,the ugly rep mahoney would still have a husband and son ,on second thought mabey if she has another son and husband murdered by a maniac slasher [machete] or gunman she can have a senate seat!!!!