Judge strikes down NC ban on public profanity

[The Northerner]

RALEIGH, N.C. – Cursing in public may not be seemly, but it is protected by the Constitution, a North Carolina judge ruled in striking down a 98-year-old state ban on public profanity.

Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour dismissed a misdemeanor charge on Wednesday against Chapel Hill resident Samantha Elabanjo, who had been convicted in July of using the word "damn" during a confrontation with police officers.

Baddour ruled the law against "indecent or profane language" within earshot of two or more people on any public road in North Carolina is too broad.

"There is no longer any consensus, if there ever was, on what words in the modern American lexicon are 'indecent' or 'profane,'" Baddour wrote. "A reasonable person cannot be certain before she acts that her language is not violative of this law, and it is therefore unconstitutionally vague."

The case started on Feb. 15 when Elabanjo was having a conversation on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, and stepped into the road as a police cruiser drove by, according to court documents. The two officers asked her to get back on the sidewalk. She did, but told the officers "You need to clean up your damn, dirty car" while still in the road.

After she was back on the sidewalk, Elabanjo waved her arms and called the officers a vulgar name. They arrested her, charging her with disorderly conduct and use of profanity on a public road.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110108/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_public_profanity_law

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

1. Altho I'm tired of public ''trash talk', it shouldn't be a 'law'.

I saw a sign at work the other day 'Out of respect for others...' and it went on to say to clean up the microwave if it spills/splatters.....

but I couldn't get past the 'OUT OF RSSPECT FOR OTHERS'.....

Dead concept it seems.

No laws can overcome that.

[Ohio Joe]

2. Fucking-A

:rofl:

[provis99]

3. "disorderly conduct" the Nazi cop's favorite catch-all.

we need more citizens to put cops in their place, not less. American society is finished if we're all frightened by the very appearance of some fascist in a uniform.