Free Speech Outlawed in Massachusetts

It's not like they can outrun the cops that way, either.

 

Haven't you seen Demolition Man?

 

The law you're discussing has actually been on the books since 1968. The Middleborough town council has recently made the law easier to enforce. This is the language of the existing by-law:
"Whoever having arrived at the age of discretion accosts or addresses another person with profane or obscene language in a street or other public place, may be punished by a fine of not more than $20.00 dollars."
http://masslawlib.blogspot.com/2012/06/profanity-in-massachusetts.html

And while I think that this law is pointless and quite stupid, depending on the circumstances it isn't necessarily protected by the First Amendment. If the profanity directed towards another person is considered 'fighting words' it does not enjoy constitutional protection (see Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 316 U.S. 568 (1942)).

 

They made it an infraction with a fine, most-likely for revenue generation.

 

Good,Then people of Mass. should actively avoid at all costs that City.Insist among their friends
to never visit Middleborough and dare not consider living there.Literally shut and shun them out
by Name.Two can play this same game.And find out who is responsible for this Unamerican assualt.
Run a local petition to have them appear before city council and answer for their action.

 

It was already an infraction with a fine. The by-law I quoted is the original language from 1968. The language hasn't changed, it is just easier to enforce now via judicial procedures.
http://www.middleborough.com/clerk/documents/TownBy-Laws.pdf#page=8
See Article 8 at the bottom of the page.

 

Biggest (*)(*)(*)(*)ing load of (*)(*)(*)(*) I have heard...

Oops, is someone going to fine me now?

 

being a mod, you should realize that even with the profanity filter, using profanity is still prohibited. fine yourself.

my state has had a similar law that levies a fine for profanity in the presence of woman and children, and at police officers. tested by the courts and still there.

 

Here in Bendigo you are not allowed to swear or you get fined. I am not sure if the cops actually enforce that rule anymore, its not like they can fine everyone!

 

no, they tend to reserve it for people being jerks...as it should be.

 

for any idiot who thinks there is or ever was such a thing as free speech go up your boss and tell him you think his wife is a slut and he is a stupid jackass. Actions have consequences in the real world

 

I think they were referring to free speech on government terms. But yeah, calling your boss's wife a slut or whore is quite idiotic. Unless they're into that sort of thing.

 

no more idiotic than going around in public swearing. Your free speech ends where my sensibilities begin, in private do what you want but don't curse around my wife and children

 

you sir, have never been to NJ!

 

This country has long had morality laws of one sort or another. Since the attack on religion and the atmosphere of anything goes, those kinds of things are harder to pass, yet they do protect society to a certain degree.

Notice that they did not ban swearing, just that it won't be free of consequences. You can still get arrested for yelling fire in a crowded theater so this is not much different than that kind of law protecting society.

 

It wouldn't be cost effective to enforce the law; all one has to do is to refuse to pay the fine; i'm assuming that person would then be incarcerated for a certain amount of days; just the cost alone of incarcerating someone would be ten times the cost of the fine alone.

 

Yeah, efficiency doesn't necessarily equate to cost effective I guess. I think it's a pretty useless law, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's unconstitutional.

 

So according to some of you no words should be banned from public speech?

I'll bet I can think of some that libs would object to.

 

This law does not prohibit solely the act of threatening another person, or using "fighting words." This Massachusetts law prohibits swearing in public addressing anyone -- meaning, the profane language does not necessarily have to be describing the person (e.g., "You're a real C!"), but covers any profanity in a conversation addressing someone (e.g., "Dude, this coffee is so F-ing good"). The SCOTUS specifically ruled that prohibiting such profanity is unconstitutional (see Cohen vs. California).

 

So I live in California....I say f**k outloud and get a $20 ticket. I toss it out.

What can they really do? This is dumb.

 

They can arrest you for refusing to pay a government fine.

 

That's because the OC has a bunch of conservatives running around.

If you live in San Francisco...you could literally shout anything you want from the roof tops, and the only reason the cops might care is if you say you're gonna jump.

 

Im sure they'll extradite me from OC.

 

Every state has laws against obscene language. At least 9 other states have laws against profanity in public. Several still have laws against blasphemy.

So to act like this a new thing is simply ridiculous.