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South Carolina Seeking To Outlaw Profanity
MBGMorden writes "It looks like in an act that defies common sense, a bill has been introduced in the South Carolina State Senate that seeks to outlaw the use of profanity. According to the bill it would become a felony (punishable by a fine up to $5000 or up to 5 years in prison) to 'publish orally or in writing, exhibit, or otherwise make available material containing words, language, or actions of a profane, vulgar, lewd, lascivious, or indecent nature.' I'm not sure if 'in writing' could be applied to the internet, but in any event this is scary stuff."
What about Freedom of speech?
I know a lot of these guys are hopelessly stuck in the past, but I think being stuck in 1630s Massachusetts is going a little overboard.
It isn't scary, it's stupid. If it ever passes, it's going to get struck down. Tell me, South Carolina, did you elect a pack of retards, because that's the only rational explanation.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
add to that:
fucking first amendment baby!
whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
Sons of bitches just want to oppress self-expression. What impact will this have on music and literature. Do have any idea how many fucking books have swear words?
Un-fucking-believable.
Pain is merely failure leaving the body
Unless S.C. wants to outlaw all language altogether, they're looking at something that's not even enforceable. So they ban your standard fucks, shits, and cunts. Awesome. Are they thinking new euphemisms and curses aren't going to spring up to fill the void? Failing creation of new words, are they going to prosecute the intent behind words used? If I can't express my displeasure about my boss in South Carolina using traditional profanity, will they go after me if I call him a doody-head?
Funny thing about language. It's creative and evolves. Even profanity is changing and twisting meaning - in some (usually male) teenagers today, 'fuck' is used like 'like' or 'um' might be used by certain other groups of people. There may not necessarily be any obscene intent behind the word, and may just be used as filler.
According to this here, that would be something that is:
1. (classical sense) Having to do with ordinary, common people.
2. Rude, uncouth, distasteful, obscene.
Looking up obscene results in:
1. Offensive to the current standards of decency or morality
2. Lewd or lustful
3. Disgusting or repulsive
4. Beyond all reason
5. Liable to deprave or corrupt
This law qualifies at least for 3 and 4. Depending on your point of view, for all of them.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
If you guys _still_ want to secede from the US, I think now we'd be willing to reconsider! Keep doing stuff like this, and it will be an easy decision. You're embarrassing all of us! Yours truly, A Yankee
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Separation of church and state, don't forget that "under god" was added to the anthem and constitution in the 1950's unlawfully. This shit is getting out of fucking hand. Those mother fuckers.
Which amendment to the constitution added "under god"?
"Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.
Now might be a really good time to invest in adult bookstores located right on your southern border! Remember, every mind-bogglingly stupid, unenforceable law is also a business opportunity!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
That's completely insane. EVERYTHING is obscene to at least one individual, somewhere.
They just outlawed everything to make everyone (in their state) an outlaw.
You know what's scary?
Maybe the crazies standing by with the ammo boxes are right.
I live in South Carolina, and honestly this is one of the stupidest things I've seen my state do (did I mention we tried to secede from the union, still have a town named secessionville, AND re-enact a war we lost?)
Since this will soon be illegal, please allow me to say it: FUCK THIS STATE
Purgatory is different than Hell, being a temporary state. "Hell" would stay in the original sentence, regardless of translation, unless you're reading a particularly Bowdlerized edition. (And even then, it would simply be incorrect rather than a difference in translation)
In 2000, I didn't vote because I thought the republicans would be just as bad as the democrats.
Boy did they exceed my expectations.
Let's hope we can return from jaw-droppingly awful to just mildly bought.
The ______ Agenda
Write a letter to State Senator Ford and tell him to fuck off.
I'm not remotely kidding.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
censorship is the accepted norm for "solving" disagreements about what we see, say and hear
Censorship in America is largely self-imposed, by industries, not something handed down from the government.
why should you expect it to get any better?
Because this particular attempt is so much of a violation of the first amendment, it's laughable. It would go to the Supreme Court, and that law would be overturned, very likely with plenty of bad press all around.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
Sorry, I won't tolerate a slightly less inane censorship bill. It is still unenforceable and unconstitutional. Plus, we've been down this road in 1996.
Even if censorship weren't unconstitutional, the fact that it would be a felony to offend someone is ludicrous. This person should never hold an elected office again.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
What about people who do tech support? Should we protect them as well?
Scarier is the citizens that don't know what it says. They don't even realize they are losing rights which is the way the elected officials want it.
This is a sig. This is only a sig. Had this been an actual sig you would have been informed where to tune for more sigs.
They already tried it
No kidding, if you pay any attention to history, a story like this pops up AT LEAST every other year. Go back in time a bit and you'll find areas that did successfully pass bans, at least for a while.
Makes me pissed off that congresscritters are doing it, but I support people going for legislative solutions over terrorist ones.
I don't read AC A human right
Take that crock of shit and shove it back up your ass. This Christian son of a bitch knows when to break out the motherfucking lexical arsenal.
Virtue finds and chooses the mean.
Aristotle, Ethica Nichomachea
Everybody likes to make fun of the backwards southerners but expressing obscenity is already a violation in New York with wonderfully vague wording for the convenience of the jackboots and brown shirts.
Section 240.20 Disorderly conduct
A person is guilty of disorderly conduct when, with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof:
3. In a public place, he uses abusive or obscene language, or makes an obscene gesture; or
Disorderly conduct is a violation.
I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
I was not worried about being arrested because there were about 30 witnesses.
And in that statement is evidence just how far we have fallen.
If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
It's scary how misguided you are. Here's the First Amendment.
Kindly point out where it states that only political speech is covered. Profanity is most definitely covered by the First Amendment. You are thinking of obscenity which is a different animal and one that has had a shifting definition. Saying you're a fucking nitwit is entirely within my rights.
Well, thanks to the Internet, I'm now bored with sex.
As much as I'd like to agree with you, the Supreme Court has found that free speech is NOT an absolute. And it's not just "indecent material" and hate speech. You also can't yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater (to use the typical example). And you can't say untrue bad things about somebody else without being vulnerable to defamation law suits. There are exceptions.
With that said, this proposal is appalling. Who ever thought Demolition Man would become a reality.
"You are fined one credit for violation of the verbal morality statute."
-Perrin.
Now I want you to go in that bag and find my lightsaber. It's the one that says bad mother-fscker on it.
The right to swing your fist extends to the tip of my nose.
It shouldn't be illegal specifically to say any particular thing. However, if it can be proved that you caused someone harm, then you adjudicate that harm.
It isn't that difficult of a concept. It isn't illegal to swing a hammer. It isn't illegal to swing a hammer into someone's face.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.