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ACLU Sues To Protect Your Right To Swear

The ACLU is suing the police in Pennsylvania for issuing tickets to people who swear. They argue that it is every American's constitutional right to drop an F-bomb. From the article: "'Unfortunately, many police departments in the commonwealth do not seem to be getting the message that swearing is not a crime,' said Marieke Tuthill of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. 'The courts have repeatedly found that profanity, unlike obscenity, is protected speech.'" This is a big f*cking deal.

14 of 698 comments (clear)

  1. Already settled? by wiredlogic · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I was under the understanding that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had already shot down the "disorderly conduct" law that was used to disenfranchise people's rights. It would be nice if the ACLU could come to New York and do the same for our law.

    --
    I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
    1. Re:Already settled? by linzeal · · Score: 5, Funny

      I go to NY, every few years for my sister and the last time I was there I distinctly remember a cop giving directions to some Midwesterner tourist swearing every other word while the tourist sat there wide-eyed with kids.

      " Yeah, you take the fucking right and go right past fucking Portland street. "

  2. Jail?! For swearing?! by clone53421 · · Score: 5, Informative

    An American rights group is suing the police in Pennsylvania for issuing tickets, which carry a jail sentence, to people for swearing.

    ...

    One lawsuit involves an unidentified woman in Luzerne County in northeast Pennsylvania who was given a citation which carries a maximum penalty of $300 and 90 days in jail after she yelled an offensive word at a motorcyclist who swerved close to her in October 2008.

    I think I speak for most people when I say: Fuck that.

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  3. Some one has to do it. by Anon-Admin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In English, fuck falls into many grammatical categories:

            As a transitive verb for instance.. John fucked Shirley.
            As an intransitive verb... Shirley fucks.

    Its meaning is not always sexual, it can be used as...

            An adjective such as... John's doing all the fucking work.
            As part of an adverb... Shirley talks too fucking much.
            As an adverb enhancing an adjective... Shirley is fucking beautiful.
            As a noun... I don't give a fuck.
            As part of a word... absofuckinglutely -or- infuckingcredible.
            And as almost every word in a sentence... Fuck the fucking fuckers.

    As you must realize, there aren't too many words with the versatility of fuck...such as these examples describing situations such as:

            Fraud: I got fucked at the used car lot.
            Dismay: ahhh fuck it.
            Trouble: I guess I'm really fucked now.
            Aggression: Don't fuck with me buddy.
            Difficulty: I don't understand this fucking question.
            Inquiry: Who the fuck was that?
            Dissatisfaction: I don't like what the fuck is going on here.
            Incompetence: He's a fuck-off.
            Dismissal: Why don't you go outside and play hide and go fuck yourself...

    I'm sure you can think of many more examples.

    With all these multi-purpose applications, how can anyone be offended when you use the word. We say use this unique, flexible word more often in your daily speech.

    It will identify the quality of your character immediately.

    Say it loudly and proudly: FUCK YOU!

  4. Re:What's so bad about swearing, anyway? by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 5, Funny

    Can somebody explain to me what exactly is bad about swearing?

    It's fucking uncouth, you stupid fucking cunt.

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  5. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  6. Re:What's with the asterisk, Slashdot? by digitig · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just print the U please, it won't hurt anyone.

    Ok. This is a big *u***** deal.

    --
    Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
  7. Re:America by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    anal sex to preserve virginity dates back thousands of years before the USA was founded, and it's not illegal to curse in public or on TV in the US. Otherwise, you're post was dead on accurate.

  8. Re:Fucking nothing by Mr.+Pibb · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think the question is not that certain words are evil, but that profanity can be valuable. This value is lost from overuse.

    One of my HS English teachers (roughly) described it this way:

    If you call everyone a motherfucker, then everyone is a motherfucker and it doesn't have value.
    But if you rarely or never use the word and walk into the principal's office and say "LISTEN HERE, MOTHERFUCKER!" then you're making a point."

  9. Re:Let it rip... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Fuckin' whoosh...

  10. Re:Let it rip... by mwvdlee · · Score: 5, Funny

    They use swearing as some sort of over compensation, trying to sound important, but only coming across as the dimwit they are.

    I see what you mean.

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    Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
  11. Re:Let it rip... by mmarlett · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Fuck" is the most versatile word in the English language. It can be used in every part of speech (except as a preposition, though it can be part of a prepositional phrase). The sentence, "Fuck those fucking fuckers," for example, packs a lot of meaning in what is really only two words. There are so many uses for that one word that someone wrote an entire book on it. In it, it calls "fuck" the "most important and powerful word in the English language."

    So don't be so fucking quick to judge.

  12. Re:Awesome thread ... by chefmonkey · · Score: 5, Informative

    If Penn wants people to be 'polite' and not use profanity in public places, thats perfectly acceptable, IF they vote it into law. If its not a law then thats it, game over ... majority rules, if a community doesn't want people swearing in public then you deal with it.

    Okay, time for a quick high-school civics refresher. The basis of law in the United States all derives from the U.S. constitution. While the 10th amendment to that constitution does grant the states and the people a lot of latitude, it explicitly places the protections of the rest of the constitution as superior to any laws that might be passed by the states (or any lower level). That's why the Supreme Court can and frequently does strike down statutes and ordinances that they find to be in conflict with the Constitution.

    In other words, if Pennsylvania wants to pass "community standards" laws that constrain speech in this way, they really only have two choices: (1) somehow get an amendment to US Constitution that curtails the 1st amendment; or (2) secede. From a practical perspective, #1 won't happen, and #2 would probably be met with armed resistance.

  13. Re:Hmmmm by PixelScuba · · Score: 5, Informative

    Fortunately the ACLU defends your right to distribute religious material.

    February 21, 2003: The American Civil Liberties Union came to the defense of students in a Massachusetts high school who were suspended for distributing candy canes with Christian messages on them. The ACLU argued that their suspension violated the students’ freedom of speech.

    July 11, 2002: ACLU defends the right of Iowa public school students to distribute Christian literature during non-instructional hours of school.

    So... thank God for the ACLU standing up for our right to practice religious freedom and expression and keeping Government forced religion out of our lives.

    ...and thank them for standing up for our fucking right to free expression.