A California woman said she's suing the Riverside Police Department for violating her Constitutional right to clap.

It all started last summer when Letitia Pepper attended a city council meeting.   Although it's not entirely clear what the council was voting on that night, what is known is that the mayor asked attendees to refrain from clapping after public comments.

Noisy shows of support could dissuade others from chiming in, he said, especially if those people had alternative viewpoints.

But Pepper wasn't swayed, and when one particular speaker finished speaking his mind, she put her hands together.

Whens he was asked to stop, she questioned the authority of the order. In her mind, at least,  clapping as people were walking to and from the podium didn't disrupt a thing.

Officers tried to speak with her quietly but she wasn't having it.  The council meeting was a public session, she said, and she had an absolute right to be there.  And when they tried to escort her out of the room, she told them they'd need to arrest her in order to do it.

At that point, one of the officers placed a hand on her arm and tried to push her out of council chambers. That, according to sources, is when she really started to make a fuss.

First she screamed that she was being assaulted.  Then she started to yell and ask if she was being arrested.  Eventually, they said yes; Pepper was then cuffed and carted off to jail, where she may have needed to post bail bonds in order to be released pending trial.

The charges were eventually dropped, but the rogue clapper reportedly said she's suing the department for violating her right to free speech.