$500 fine for swearing

[bianco]

Public swearing fines increase to $500

An increase in fines for swearing in public under the NSW government's legislation to tackle alcohol-fuelled violence is making critics say: ''What the …?''

Police officers will soon be able to issue on-the-spot fines of up to $500 to anyone who uses offensive language, more than triple the current penalty of $150, although, if you are on the train and fined by a Transit Officer, the penalty can be $400.

The $500 fine is the highest on-the-spot penalty for swearing in Australia. Police in Victoria can issue $240 fines, and in Queensland swearing will cost just $100.

But critics such as solicitor Jane Sanders at the free legal service The Shopfront Youth Legal Centre believes swearing is part of the vernacular and such laws unfairly target minority groups such as Aborigines and young people.

#####

funny cartoon

No 1 radio host says; "Profanity is the language of the uncouth".

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Australia another Country like England with no rights, everyone is a subject to the Government.

 

[Jughead]

Although I don't personally believe in using profanity, this law appears to infringe on an individual's liberties and freedoms. Not to mention freedom of speech.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Although I don't personally believe in using profanity, this law appears to infringe on an individual's liberties and freedoms. Not to mention freedom of speech.

Australia has no rights. Like England the only recourse to an onerous law is to somehow vote in enough opponents to Parliament to change it at the next election.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Public swearing fines increase to $500

An increase in fines for swearing in public under the NSW government's legislation to tackle alcohol-fuelled violence is making critics say: ''What the …?''

Police officers will soon be able to issue on-the-spot fines of up to $500 to anyone who uses offensive language, more than triple the current penalty of $150, although, if you are on the train and fined by a Transit Officer, the penalty can be $400.

The $500 fine is the highest on-the-spot penalty for swearing in Australia. Police in Victoria can issue $240 fines, and in Queensland swearing will cost just $100.

But critics such as solicitor Jane Sanders at the free legal service The Shopfront Youth Legal Centre believes swearing is part of the vernacular and such laws unfairly target minority groups such as Aborigines and young people.

#####

funny cartoon

No 1 radio host says; "Profanity is the language of the uncouth".

One of the many negative consequences of not living in a constitutional republic.

 

[bianco]

Australia another Country like England with no rights, everyone is a subject to the Government.

Australians have plenty of rights.

This increased fine is basically to stop people verbally abusing police officers and anyone else they choose to, with offensive language...wherever and whenever they like.
Requesting them to refrain from doing so fell on deaf ears.


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There are cops issuing fines in Australia;


No Cookies | thetelegraph.com.au

Lunchtime jay-walkers stunned by fine blitz in the city

A woman cops a fine and a warning on the corner of Market and Pitt streets. Picture: Bradley Hunter Source: News Limited
STUNNED city workers were hit with $67 fines during a lunchtime jay-walking blitz in Sydney's CBD.
Police handed out dozens of fines and warnings to pedestrians during the 90 minute crackdown at the intersection of Market and Pitt Streets.

Four police officers kept watch at the intersection between 11.30am and 1pm, booking people when they crossed the road on the red signals.

A woman is pulled over by a police officer for jay walking. Picture: Bradley Hunter Source: News Limited

One officer slapped an English tourist with a fine, warning him that he could have been "skittled".

"I was fined $67 for crossing the road when it wasn't the green man. I didn't know (it was illegal)," Lawrence Tate said.

"He said it was dangerous because I could have been hit by a car or bike. I was surprised because it wasn't exactly busy."

#####

Scraping pedestrians up off the roadway after they've been knocked down by cars, bikes, trucks, buses etc is not a pleasant experience.
90 pedestrians hit in the city CBD in not so many months.
Sometimes the cops have to save people from themselves.


Woman badly injured after being hit by bus in Sydney CBD - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

30 Jan 2014

Woman badly injured after being hit by bus in Sydney CBD


A woman is in hospital in a critical condition after she was run over by a bus in central Sydney and became stuck in its back wheels.
The woman was trapped for almost two hours before she was freed by emergency workers late yesterday afternoon.

Inspector Spaulding says two or three of the paramedics climbed under the bus at considerable risk to themselves, carrying out some medical procedures and developing a rapport with the woman.
The ambulance service has arranged for a chaplain to talk with paramedics who attended the incident.

#####

Unfortunately the lady passed away.


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And cops issuing fines in America;


http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/...-5ec6-11e3-b537-001a4bcf887a.html?mode=image

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Really? Care to provide the document that spells out the rights that are protected from Parliament?

 

[hjmick]

Profanity is the language of the uncouth.

Freedom of speech, the language of Americans.


That you or anyone would stand by and let such laws be passed nauseates me.

 

[Indofred]

Australia another Country like England with no rights, everyone is a subject to the Government.

I agree.
Australian culture demands the right to get smashed out of your brain, swear a lot and beat strangers up because they "looked at his girlfriend".

Government control is disgusting.

 

[Unkotare]

Australians have plenty of rights.

In you they've got one big, fat WRONG.

 

[Noomi]

People should be able to swear in public. As long its not excessive, this is just another means of making money.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

People should be able to swear in public. As long its not excessive, this is just another means of making money.

If you had protected rights it wouldn't happen. Being subjects to a parliament with no written protections sucks doesn't it?

 

[bianco]

Profanity is the language of the uncouth.

Freedom of speech, the language of Americans.


That you or anyone would stand by and let such laws be passed nauseates me.

What would you have us do about it, it's now the law?


Meanwhile, in America;

US town to fine people $20 for swearing in public - Telegraph

Residents in Middleborough, a town near Boston, will be fined $20 (£12) for swearing in public.

At a town meeting in Middleborough, residents voted 183-50 to approve a proposal from the police chief to impose the penalty.


#####

My guess is that if the $20 fine doesn't get the desired results it will soon be increased.

Seems folks have had enough of all the bad language.

Yes, "please go away" will soon be replacing "F off"...and a much more refined society will result.

 

[bianco]

People should be able to swear in public. As long its not excessive, this is just another means of making money.

If you had protected rights it wouldn't happen. Being subjects to a parliament with no written protections sucks doesn't it?

We have a Constitution...but you need a special lawyer to interpret it.


Written protections?

Maize High students question fine for cursing

Maize, Kan. -- Students at Maize High school are looking for a change in the way cursing is punished. District police say it's always been on the books that a curse word comes with a 50 dollar fine. The police chief says the high school now has its own student resource officer for the first time in a year and a half.

The officer is now actually writing tickets.

 

[Connery]

I never found foul language to be a problem in the Lucky Country unless I was there. Now I will have to bring more money with me when I go.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Australia another Country like England with no rights, everyone is a subject to the Government.

Australians have plenty of rights.

True.

Unfortunately those rights are subject to the capricious will of the people, not the rule of law, as in the United States.

Had such a measure been enacted in any jurisdiction in the United States, it would have been challenged as a violation of the First Amendment, and invalidated accordingly.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Profanity is the language of the uncouth.

Freedom of speech, the language of Americans.


That you or anyone would stand by and let such laws be passed nauseates me.

What would you have us do about it, it's now the law?

No idea – you’ll need to figure that out.

But the people of Middleborough, MA, however, have the right to challenge the constitutionality of the ‘swearing’ ordinance, and if successful have it invalidated, whether the elected officials who enacted the measure like it or not.

That’s one of the many advantages of living in a constitutional republic, to be ruled by law, not men.

 

[bianco]

Freedom of speech, the language of Americans.


That you or anyone would stand by and let such laws be passed nauseates me.

What would you have us do about it, it's now the law?

No idea – you’ll need to figure that out.

But the people of Middleborough, MA, however, have the right to challenge the constitutionality of the ‘swearing’ ordinance, and if successful have it invalidated, whether the elected officials who enacted the measure like it or not.

That’s one of the many advantages of living in a constitutional republic, to be ruled by law, not men.

Men [and women] make the laws.

We also can challenge the govt man's 'swearing' law, in court.
...definition of the word 'offensive' for starters.
Lawyers will simply play some Hollywood movies in court..."Erin Brokovich" for one...swear words in that one, by a leading Hollywood actress.
In fact, so called 'offensive language' used by a string of female Hollywood actresses etc in many movies.

 

[Politico]

Good they should do this in the US.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Good they should do this in the US.

They do. Watching some of the 'COPS' spin-off shows (Campus PD et al.) they have arrested people for cussing at police officers (disturbing the peace, or public intoxication if appropriate.) And I'm almost certain it's still on the books as a crime in some places, general profanity.

Ah here we are:

"Section 18.2-388 of the Virginia Code states that "profane swearing and intoxication in public" is punishable as a Class 4 misdemeanor:

If any person profanely curses or swears or is intoxicated in public, whether such intoxication results from alcohol, narcotic drug or other intoxicant or drug of whatever nature, he shall be deemed guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor. In any area in which there is located a court-approved detoxification center a law-enforcement officer may authorize the transportation, by police or otherwise, of public inebriates to such detoxification center in lieu of arrest; however, no person shall be involuntarily detained in such center."
It's F*cking Illegal to Curse in Public in Virginia: DCist

"Effects

Acceptance of profanity evolves over time. What was once a bad word may now be common language. However, cursing is still not considered socially acceptable. ABC's John Stossel reports 48% of Americans are still offended by profanity (Page 2: Stossel on Constant Cursing - ABC News).

Psychiatrists say profanity is a prelude to aggressive behavior. Schools still ban certain words. Children who curse, even when the habit is not stifled by their parents, come to realize the language is socially unacceptable and will bring them trouble.

Features

Most criminal laws continue to take the stance that profanity alone isn't illegal, but profanity leading to (or appearing to lead to) disorderly conduct is illegal.

Types

Every state has laws against obscene language. In nine U.S. states, it is illegal to use profanity in public or on the telephone, as it is intimidating and threatening.

Though profanity convictions are rare, profanity can have unpleasant consequences. People charged with disorderly conduct often find their language introduced as evidence against them."
About Laws Against Profanity | eHow