Oh, Middleborough

[gnomi]

Last night at their town meeting, the town of Middleborough, MA, passed a $20 fine for swearing in public.

How the *#&! is this enforceable?* Or constitutional? I know that the resort area of Virginia Beach, VA, has a similar bylaw (that's where I took the photo that got turned into the icon on this post), but I still don't know how it's possible to make a law of this sort without impinging on folks' First Amendment rights.

ETA: For those of you who like this sort of thing, the Warrant is here, and it was Article 24.


See what I did there? ;-)

Comments

[sorek.livejournal.com]

*insert "cannot yell 'fire' in a crowded room" routine here*

*insert "how is 'disturbing the peace' enforceable?" routine here.

how is jaywalking enforceable?

how is prohibiting smoking in public enforceable?

One thing I've never understood, you're walking along and jaywalk. You get caught. Traffic cop asks for identification. You respond "I don't need one unless I'm buying beer, cigarettes, or driving a car. By the way my name is John Smith" exactly what is the cop supposed to do? Probably a better question for various lawyer friends.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

Did they pass the law, or revise the fines?

[violetcheetah.livejournal.com]

As I understand it from the TV news several weeks ago when it was first up for consideration, it is aimed at swearing at someone in a confrontational way, or at someone who doesn't want to be sworn at, or something. So, the 16-year-old who says, "F*&k you!" to the clerk who won't give him a pack of cigarettes can be fined, but if you see your friend in the park and yell, "Hey! Did you see the performance of 'Figaro' on PBS last night? It was f*&king awesome!" that's perfectly okay, even if a passing soccer mom with her 8-year-old in tow objects.

[madfilkentist]

That's the usual "Oh, we won't enforce it against you" claim that's made to get a bad bill passed, but campaign promises have no standing in court. Now that it's in place, the cops can use it to harass anyone they don't like -- until someone is willing to go to the effort to make a Constitutional challenge.

[autotruezone.livejournal.com]

The article you linked to says that they already had a law against profanity, but this measure reduces it from a criminal offence that would have to be tried in court to an administrative one.

How does it get past the first amendment? IANAL, but I suppose it gets by in the same way that laws restricting pornography, indecent exposure, etc. do.

Incidentally, what do people who toss f-bombs randomly do when they get upset? When I use a curse word, everyone around me knows I'm really upset because I use them so rarely. Using them excessively reduces their effectiveness -- so how do people who indiscriminately curse let off steam safely?