Town's residents ban swearing in public
Source: Agencies |
June 13, 2012, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
RESIDENTS in a town outside Boston have voted to fine people for swearing in public.
At a town meeting in Middlesborough, the vote was 183-50 to approve the police chief's proposal to impose a US$20 fine for public profanity.
Officials said the proposal was not intended to censor casual or private conversations, but to crack down on loud, profanity-laden language used by young people in the downtown area and public parks.
"I'm really happy about it," Mimi Duphily said. "I'm sure there's going to be some fallout, but I think what we did was necessary."
Duphily, who runs an auto parts store, is one of several downtown merchants who wanted to 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.
The measure could raise questions about the right to free speech, but state law allows 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.
However, Matthew Segal, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said the US Supreme Court has ruled that the government cannot prohibit public speech just because it contains profanity.
The new ordinance gives police discretion over whether to ticket someone if they believe the cursing ban has been violated.
The town of about 20,000 residents has had a bylaw against public profanity since 1968. But because it essentially makes swearing a crime, it has rarely if ever been enforced.
The ordinance would decriminalize public profanity, allowing police to write tickets as they would for a traffic violation.
At a town meeting in Middlesborough, the vote was 183-50 to approve the police chief's proposal to impose a US$20 fine for public profanity.
Officials said the proposal was not intended to censor casual or private conversations, but to crack down on loud, profanity-laden language used by young people in the downtown area and public parks.
"I'm really happy about it," Mimi Duphily said. "I'm sure there's going to be some fallout, but I think what we did was necessary."
Duphily, who runs an auto parts store, is one of several downtown merchants who wanted to 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.
The measure could raise questions about the right to free speech, but state law allows 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.
However, Matthew Segal, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said the US Supreme Court has ruled that the government cannot prohibit public speech just because it contains profanity.
The new ordinance gives police discretion over whether to ticket someone if they believe the cursing ban has been violated.
The town of about 20,000 residents has had a bylaw against public profanity since 1968. But because it essentially makes swearing a crime, it has rarely if ever been enforced.
The ordinance would decriminalize public profanity, allowing police to write tickets as they would for a traffic violation.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
