Mass. residents vote for gov't to regulate what words come out of their mouth

[C_Clayton_Jones]

It’s not a matter of having a right to vote on the issue or not, it’s simply a fact of law that obscenity is not protected speech.

There's a difference between obscenity and profanity.

"One man’s vulgarity is another’s lyric."

The Cohen Court was addressing an issue of actual expression of emotion and an idea – opposition to the war in Vietnam – where the use of obscenity was incidental and peripheral to the central message.

That’s not the case with regard to the obscenity the measure in the OP seeks to limit, where the words used are intended only to shock, offend, and do not serve to express an idea or emotion.