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Court: He had a right to curse

A

aquajet

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Feb 12, 2005
2,386
9
VA
Link

DETROIT, Michigan (AP) -- An officer who arrested a man for cursing in a public meeting violated the man's right to free speech, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court's decision that Montrose Township police officer Stephen Robinson had probable cause to arrest Thomas Leonard in 2002 when Leonard cursed while addressing the township board.

"It cannot be seriously contended that any reasonable peace officer, or citizen, for that matter, would believe that mild profanity while peacefully advocating a political position could constitute a criminal act," the three-judge panel wrote in Friday's decision.

"All our client did was get up at a public meeting and express himself vigorously, and he was arrested for it," said Glen Lenhoff, Leonard's attorney.

At the time, Leonard's wife, Sarah, was suing the township over a towing contract. Thomas Leonard accused the board members in the meeting of cheating his family and saying, "That's why you're in a goddamn lawsuit."

Robinson arrested Leonard, charging him with disorderly conduct and using obscene language. He was held in jail for an hour, and the charges were dismissed a month later.

Leonard sued in 2003, claiming the arrest violated his Fourth Amendment right to freedom from unreasonable seizure and, in a later motion, his First Amendment right to free speech. He sought at least $25,000 in damages.

Ralph Chapa, a partner in the law firm representing Robinson, said his firm is considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A U.S. District Court judge dropped the charges against Robinson in 2005, agreeing with the officer that he had probable cause to arrest Leonard. The case will go back to the lower court, pending further appeals.
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What's interesting is how the court labeled Leonard's speech "mild profanity". I wonder how this would have panned out had he said "...f***ing lawsuit".
 
Counterfit

Counterfit

macrumors G3
Aug 20, 2003
8,195
0
sitting on your shoulder
A few years ago, I read about a guy who was cited for swearing (it was either *** or s***) on a street corner, with a woman and a small child standing next to him. I don't know what the outcome was. Being arrested for "goddamn" is pretty extreme.

And I bet someone is going to try and link this to Bush and fear and the "war on terror", but this could have happened even without all that.
 
Abstract

Abstract

macrumors Penryn
Dec 27, 2002
24,836
848
Location Location Location
"Damn" is not really a curse word. You can even hear people say that on TV nowadays. "Goddamn" only seems like a curse word if you follow certain religions.

Counterfit said:
And I bet someone is going to try and link this to Bush and fear and the "war on terror", but this could have happened even without all that.
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Yeah, seriously...
 
bousozoku

bousozoku

Moderator emeritus
Jun 25, 2002
15,673
1,836
Lard
Counterfit said:
A few years ago, I read about a guy who was cited for swearing (it was either *** or s***) on a street corner, with a woman and a small child standing next to him. I don't know what the outcome was. Being arrested for "goddamn" is pretty extreme.

And I bet someone is going to try and link this to Bush and fear and the "war on terror", but this could have happened even without all that.
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It's not considered as bad now, but I'd say that it happened quite frequently in the 1950s.

It's still a matter of having a good vocabulary and some restraint. People can express themselves without resorting to profanity, even the ignorant.

It's sad when it's publicly accepted that people are going to talk that way. I'm not saying that people don't have a right to be angry but they need to find better ways to say what they feel.
 
E

enda1

macrumors member
Jul 25, 2006
75
3
Ireland
cops actually arrest people for saying damn in the states? Thats just goddamn ****ed up that is!
 
Chundles

Chundles

macrumors G5
Jul 4, 2005
12,037
493
Man, if they arrested people here for something like saying "goddamned" then our entire population would be in the klink.

Mind you we all swear like sailors down here - it's the heat. And the beer. But mostly the heat.
 
rockthecasbah

rockthecasbah

macrumors 68020
Apr 12, 2005
2,395
2
Moorestown, NJ
I don't understand the whole "damn" type of cursing situation for censorship. According to television, damn is fine to say, but "God damn" bleeps out the "God" part? WTF? Why is God offensive but damn not?
 
bousozoku

bousozoku

Moderator emeritus
Jun 25, 2002
15,673
1,836
Lard
rockthecasbah said:
I don't understand the whole "damn" type of cursing situation for censorship. According to television, damn is fine to say, but "God damn" bleeps out the "God" part? WTF? Why is God offensive but damn not?
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That's considered blasphemy by a lot of Christians.
 
QuarterSwede

QuarterSwede

macrumors G3
Oct 1, 2005
9,780
2,030
Colorado Springs, CO
bousozoku said:
That's considered blasphemy by a lot of Christians.
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And being that the US started as a Christian nation might have something to do with it. Personally I don't understand why people still feel the need to say it when they don't believe in God (those that don't believe). Why use His name as a curse then?

I'm of the thought that usually resorting to cursing just means that one doesn't have enough discipline to think of a better way to say the same thing. I say usually because I can see when there are times that using a curse word could clarify your meaning and give it slightly more punch (the original intention of the words). Now a days so many people use them they have really lost their punch and meaning.
 
bousozoku

bousozoku

Moderator emeritus
Jun 25, 2002
15,673
1,836
Lard
QuarterSwede said:
And being that the US started as a Christian nation might have something to do with it. Personally I don't understand why people still feel the need to say it when they don't believe in God (those that don't believe). Why use His name as a curse then?

I'm of the thought that usually resorting to cursing just means that one doesn't have enough discipline to think of a better way to say the same thing. I say usually because I can see when there are times that using a curse word could clarify your meaning and give it slightly more punch (the original intention of the words). Now a days so many people use them they have really lost their punch and meaning.
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We're in agreement on the last part, if you saw my earlier post.

"God" isn't a name as much as it is a rank or designation. Supposedly, Jehovah was the name of that particular god.

Note that I said "a lot of Christians" because not all Christians care or worry about it. I'm also not sure why people, Christian or otherwise, would say it but I know that the same thing happens in Hungarian because I'd heard that quite a bit growing up.
 
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