The residents of Middleborough, Massachusetts, have had enough of this *#%@&!
And on Monday night they voted to make those who curse put their money where their potty mouths are - to the sum of $20, that is.
Police in the town of 22,000 will be writing tickets bearing fines in that amount to those who foul its public places with profanity after residents voted 183-50 Monday night that they were mad as *#%@& and weren't going to take it anymore.
Overheard on CNN.com: What the $%#;!? Choice words for town's profanity fine
"If I didn't hear 10 kids drop the F-bombs between my store and a block and half I would be shocked," local business owner Mimi Duphily told CNN affiliate WHDH. She was one of those who pushed for cops to clean up the *#%@&.
Not everyone was pleased with the plan.
“This comes under the context of trying to legislate morality or good parenting,” resident Adam Bond told those gathered at the annual town meeting Monday night, in the town that calls itself the "cranberry capital of the world."
So what words are over the line in Middlleborough?
That will be at the discretion of police, but they'll be directing their enforcement efforts at those using profanity to accost others, Officer Steven Nelson said Tuesday.
“It's not going to be just someone walking down the street dropping the F-bomb; it's going to be when you're actually making it uncomfortable for everyone else,” Duphily told WHDH.
Note that Middleborough is only 38 miles from Boston and Fenway Park, where Red Sox fans bestowed a profane nickname on New York Yankee Bucky Dent after the light-hitting shortstop homered in the seventh inning of a tiebreaker game in 1978.
Call him Bucky "Bleeping" Dent in Middleborough and it'll cost you $20.
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If I can be given a ticket for using "foul" language, then some people should be ticketed for being "foul". Certain language offends certain people, and it will always be that way. Some peoples' appearance offends me, but I can't have them ticketed for that. Unfortunately, being ignorant is not a crime......but saying what's on your mind can be a crime in that town. Give me a break. There are far more important things in this society to be worried about that what language people use. Grow up, toughen up and focus your efforts on something a little more timeworthy people!!
I can understand how people get upset when foul language is being used in public. I, myself, sometimes use foul language to vent my frustrations or just to be funny. But I tell my friends and family while we are out in public to watch their mouths while around others, especially children. I can't tell you how many times I actually have asked a stranger to watch their mouth around my younger family relatives while out in public. Most of the time, they apologize. but there are those few who basically could care less. And if someone files a complaint about someone continuously using foul language when asked to stop, then the guilty party needs to prepared to deal with the consequences.
No worries, there are only seven words that are not allowed, and George Carlin provided those years ago...
Yep .. it's an EFFIN FREE country. Doesn't mean you have to be a d*ck. There are consequences to how you conduct your life, you know.
Does that include using the lord's name in vain? What about ethnic slurs? What if I am reading the supreme court decision which decided on George Carlin's use of the 7 dirty words on the airwaves and as the result say these words out loud? How will the police know the difference?
What happened to freedom of speech?
I swear, I swear among my friends... I swear when trying to put electronics together, I swear profusely while driving... but I'm aware that, when I'm in public, swearing is offensive. The right to free speech is one thing. Trying to avoid accountability for acting like an @$$ in public is not a matter of free speech - it's a matter of being respectful and civilized. TRY IT, AMERICA.
If you censor people, it is no longer free speech. The first amendment is supposed to protect all speech. Not just the speech that people are comfortable with.
What makes swearing so profane again? Shoot. I can think of a darn reason why it should be.
But i said mother Trucker.
Can't wait to hear what Seth McFarland says.
Well the city decided this by vote. If you don't like it don't visit or move somewhere else.
Where were the town legal advisers when this idea was floated. Long established that cuss words are free speech and cannot be generally proscribed. There is a case history where you can even call a cop a "F...g Pig" and cannot be charged, at least for that. They probably will still book you for something like disturbing the peace. Somebody is sure to take his fine through the courts and it will get costly for the town. Costly for the miscreant as well, but there are folks with money to burn that love that sort of issue.
Between this and Bloomberg's ludicrous soda ban we are slowly allowing the fascists to take away our rights, one right at a time.
So the police now have something else to patrol and give tickets for. What happens when an offender does not pay the ticket? Do they go to jail? Now this person becomes a burden on the taxpayers because they swore in public. The more stupid laws we have like this the more bloated our penal system becomes. It is sad that people try to use law to force their version of good manners on everybody. We all end up paying for it in the end and I am pretty sure that people will continue to swear in public unless the cops are around. Let's keep our police available to patrol for real criminals rather than busying themselves chasing after bad manners.
My freshman english teacher
Told everyone
Of his students
That truly intelligent people dont have to swear
because it is possible to get
Ones' point across without
Using profanity.
He then taught
Us how to interpret exactly
What each word or profane
Phrase meant....
Perhaps the people who are
Tired of hearing
All of the
Profanity simply
Wish to hear some unpolluted
Intelligent use of
Language which
Allows an average person
To say exactly
What they mean vs using a whole
Bunch of profane nonsense simply
Due to anger. I
Think it's to be
Commended!!
This isnt a policy
That attacks the
Bill of rights. It's
A challenge to
Encourage
Individuals to
Expand ones
Personal
vocabulary....
Rise to the
occasion!
@BrendaLea... who the F cares what your freshman year English teacher thinks? Was that supposed to persuade us that this town can violation our protections of free speech? lmao. I can't wait until there's a lawsuit and they either fold immediately or go to court and get crushed. Idiots. Btw, did your billiant teacher teach you that "English" is spelled with a capital E? And when he told "everyone" of his students, did he teach you that it's "every one"? You're dumb and so was your teacher.
BrendaLea wrote:
"My freshman english teacher
Told everyone
Of his students
That truly intelligent people dont have to swear
because it is possible to get
Ones' point across without
Using profanity."
errors.
When you
Write like you
Think you're
Composing some sort of
Poem
On a forum board
It's hard to give
Much credit to any of
Your English teachers.
This country isn't as free as they make it sound, from stupid fines like this to Home Owners Associations, to the constant red-tape of starting a business...I'm fully convinced this country is more restrictive than it's ever been...