Massachusetts Town's Cursing Fine is Illegal, Says Judge Napolitano
Middleborough, Massachusetts residents voted “yes” to a law invoking $20 fine for using profanities in public. Basically, this means that anyone heard swearing in the town will be ticketed and have to pay up. Judge Andrew Napolitano weighed in on the law, saying it's not legal. He told Neil Cavuto that anyone can use foul language, regardless if they are in public or private places, because it’s protected under the First Amendment.
Several years ago after Judge Napolitano left the bench, he helped dismiss a case against a basketball coach who cursed at a reporter. The judge explained that the court ruled that the curse word was an “intensifier; it is part of our language,
and it can be used with impunity in public.” He suggested that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules the same way the first time someone is fined for swearing.
Cavuto speculated a positive outcome of the fine, saying that if implemented at Fenway Park, the Massachusetts state budget could be balanced after one game. Judge Napolitano said, “One of the beauties of being an American is you can say what you want, where you want, how you want, and the government can’t punish you for it.”
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