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Massachusetts town approves $20 fine for swearing in public
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.
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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."
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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.
The ordinance gives police discretion over whether to ticket someone if they believe the cursing ban has been violated.
Duphily, who runs an auto parts store, is among the downtown merchants who wanted take a stand against the kind of swearing that can make customers uncomfortable.
"They'll sit on the bench and yell back and forth to each other with the foulest language. It's just so inappropriate," she said.
Fined for free speech?
Middleborough, a town of about 20,000 residents perhaps best known for its rich cranberry bogs, has had a bylaw against public profanity since 1968. But because that bylaw essentially makes cursing a crime, it has rarely if ever been enforced, officials said, because it simply would not merit the time and expense to pursue a case through the courts.
The ordinance would decriminalize public profanity, allowing police to write tickets as they would for a traffic violation. It would also decriminalize certain types of disorderly conduct, public drinking and marijuana use, and dumping snow on a roadway.
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Segal praised Middleborough for reconsidering its bylaw against public profanity, but said fining people for it isn't much better.
"Police officers who never enforced the bylaw might be tempted to issue these fines, and people might end up getting fined for constitutionally protected speech," he said.
Another local merchant, Robert Saquet, described himself as "ambivalent" about the no-swearing proposal, likening it to try to enforce a ban on the seven dirty words of George Carlin, a nod to a famous sketch by the late comedian.
"In view of words commonly used in movies and cable TV, it's kind of hard to define exactly what is obscene," said Paquet, who owns a downtown furniture store.
But Duphily said, "I don't care what you do in private. It's in public what bothers me."
The Boston Globe reported that Middleborough voters also approved a $50 fine for littering; a $50 fine for shoveling snow into the street; and a $300 fine for smoking marijuana in public.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/12/12178224-massachusetts-town-approves-20-fine-for-swearing-in-public#c66991135
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."
Advertise | AdChoices
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.
The ordinance gives police discretion over whether to ticket someone if they believe the cursing ban has been violated.
Duphily, who runs an auto parts store, is among the downtown merchants who wanted take a stand against the kind of swearing that can make customers uncomfortable.
"They'll sit on the bench and yell back and forth to each other with the foulest language. It's just so inappropriate," she said.
Fined for free speech?
Middleborough, a town of about 20,000 residents perhaps best known for its rich cranberry bogs, has had a bylaw against public profanity since 1968. But because that bylaw essentially makes cursing a crime, it has rarely if ever been enforced, officials said, because it simply would not merit the time and expense to pursue a case through the courts.
The ordinance would decriminalize public profanity, allowing police to write tickets as they would for a traffic violation. It would also decriminalize certain types of disorderly conduct, public drinking and marijuana use, and dumping snow on a roadway.
Follow @msnbc_us
Segal praised Middleborough for reconsidering its bylaw against public profanity, but said fining people for it isn't much better.
"Police officers who never enforced the bylaw might be tempted to issue these fines, and people might end up getting fined for constitutionally protected speech," he said.
Another local merchant, Robert Saquet, described himself as "ambivalent" about the no-swearing proposal, likening it to try to enforce a ban on the seven dirty words of George Carlin, a nod to a famous sketch by the late comedian.
"In view of words commonly used in movies and cable TV, it's kind of hard to define exactly what is obscene," said Paquet, who owns a downtown furniture store.
But Duphily said, "I don't care what you do in private. It's in public what bothers me."
The Boston Globe reported that Middleborough voters also approved a $50 fine for littering; a $50 fine for shoveling snow into the street; and a $300 fine for smoking marijuana in public.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/12/12178224-massachusetts-town-approves-20-fine-for-swearing-in-public#c66991135
HAHAHAHAHA!!! LOL
I'm with you their R. I can think of a few more too......
How about a law against those little bikini swim trunks for men? Or pants that create camel toes? And young boys need to pull their pants up (that one shouldn't be a fine, it should be imprisonment!)!!!! Why do they want to show their underwear? Oh yes, we can come up with all kinds of laws.....
-half tops when you have tummy rolls
-makeup looking like it was applied with a trowel
-too much perfume or aftershave (do you really need to shower in the stuff?)
The list goes on. Make it ALL illegal!!!
How about a law against those little bikini swim trunks for men? Or pants that create camel toes? And young boys need to pull their pants up (that one shouldn't be a fine, it should be imprisonment!)!!!! Why do they want to show their underwear? Oh yes, we can come up with all kinds of laws.....
-half tops when you have tummy rolls
-makeup looking like it was applied with a trowel
-too much perfume or aftershave (do you really need to shower in the stuff?)
The list goes on. Make it ALL illegal!!!
HAHAHAHA!! ROTFL
I wish they would pass laws against talking in Theaters and Cell Phone use in Restaurants. ******* *** Holes
oh $hit!!!
*Note: I'm not condoning public vulgarity or cursing in public, I'm just saying that for the sake of argument.
So what "proof" is it going to take for someone to get a ticket?
"No officer, I didn't say f*ck. I said "phoque". It's the French word for 'seal', I promise."
Seriously, what the phoque...
Freedom of speech, no matter how lewd, absurd, vulgar or profane it may be, is one of the basics of our civil liberties, is it not?
"No officer, I didn't say f*ck. I said "phoque". It's the French word for 'seal', I promise."
Seriously, what the phoque...
Freedom of speech, no matter how lewd, absurd, vulgar or profane it may be, is one of the basics of our civil liberties, is it not?
Very true Brice. It's our job to teach our kids right from wrong. Laws should be primarily about public safety issues...at least in my opinion.
Right or wrong, I bought a shirt a couple of years back when I started to get a little bit worn out on all of the "P.C" stuff floating around. "How dare I wear this ___ ______ shirt in front of your ________ kids."
I see people all of the time take a stand on something like swearing in public... yeah, its not attractive. That's a given. But some of these people who will take a stand on swearing in public, drive around with their kids not buckled up, feed them garbage all of the time, let the TV be their childs baby sitter, or don't really have an active position within their kids lives.
Your good parenting model will trump my swearing in public any day. Any day.... With a little bit of attention and a few bad examples, kids know whats right and wrong. Kids figure out what is readily accepted and whats not.
Swearing in public? Why not nose picking? Why not smacking your gum? Come on people.... do you really want cops to raise your kids and teach them morals?????
I see people all of the time take a stand on something like swearing in public... yeah, its not attractive. That's a given. But some of these people who will take a stand on swearing in public, drive around with their kids not buckled up, feed them garbage all of the time, let the TV be their childs baby sitter, or don't really have an active position within their kids lives.
Your good parenting model will trump my swearing in public any day. Any day.... With a little bit of attention and a few bad examples, kids know whats right and wrong. Kids figure out what is readily accepted and whats not.
Swearing in public? Why not nose picking? Why not smacking your gum? Come on people.... do you really want cops to raise your kids and teach them morals?????
I so wish people would not swear in public, especially in family type areas like parks, etc. I really wish they wouldn`t. But again, isn`t this legislating morality. I`ve nicely asked people to please watch their language when children are around, and usually they become embarrassed and more careful. I kinda see something like this as a waste of the police`s time too. I mean, most police forces are already understaffed and I guess I would rather see them dealing with crime and then issues of public safety like speeders, drunk drivers or other things that could really harm others. I suppose it could be a good revenue generator though...
This is a no-no. So much for free speech, eh? I've been known to have a "potty mouth"...... I can see a cop trying to write me a ticket, and then I start to speak.
"You're writing me a _________ ticket for what?" "You've got to be ______ kidding me?" "What kind of ______ ______ bag law is that?"
I cuss so much the cop would get writers block.
"You're writing me a _________ ticket for what?" "You've got to be ______ kidding me?" "What kind of ______ ______ bag law is that?"
I cuss so much the cop would get writers block.
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