Middleborough, Ma. votes to fine people $20 for swearing in public
AP) MIDDLEBOROUGH, Mass. - Residents in Middleborough have voted to make the foul-mouthed among them pay fines for swearing in public.
At a town meeting Monday night, residents voted 183-50 to approve a proposal from the police chief to impose a $20 fine on public profanity.
Officials insist the proposal was not intended to censor casual or private conversations, but instead to crack down on loud, profanity-laden language used by teens and other young people in the downtown area and public parks.
"I'm really happy about it," Mimi Duphily, a store owner and former town selectwoman, said after the vote. "I'm sure there's going to be some fallout, but I think what we did was necessary."
The measure could raise questions about First Amendment rights, but state law does allow towns to enforce local laws that give police the power to arrest anyone who "addresses another person with profane or obscene language" in a public place.
Matthew Segal, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the government cannot prohibit public speech just because it contains profanity.
Good thing it doesn't apply to when I'm driving in MA (or anywhere for that matter) or I'd be so screwed...
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
It could make for some interesting court cases, would the DA get fined for repeating the exact words the defendant allegedly said? What words are officially considered to be beyond reproach? If someone were to write down all of the specific words would the reading of that list be against that law?
Everyone I know from the Boston area uses the F word like any other word and probably has for most of their lives. I wonder what drove the people of Middleborough to pass such a law? Assuming the law can be enforced it will generate a lot of revenue.
I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you.
"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him; better take a closer look at the American Indian." - Henry Ford
Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges; When the Republic is at its most corrupt the laws are most numerous. - Publius Cornelius Tacitus
The OP story was from Tax-achussetts right? No surprise, worked and went to college there a few years in my 20s. Between the pathetic Red sox, high taxes, and crappy NE weather, its no surprise at the excessive swearing. I wouldn't go back there for any reason. Ever. Cuss away Red sox fans!
If you want to be, press one. If you want not to be, press 2
Republicans are red, democrats are blue, neither of them, gives a flip about you.
