What the &@#%! Wis. man fined $500 for swearing on bus

[The Straight Story]

What the &@#%! Wis. man fined $500 for swearing on bus

MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man thinks it's pretty darn ridiculous that he got fined $500 for swearing on a county bus.

Terry Duncan tells WISN-TV that he considers it un-American to get slapped with a $500 disorderly conduct fine for saying two words. The words in questions started with the letters "f" and "s." After Duncan uttered them Tuesday, an undercover deputy ordered him off the vehicle and handed him the ticket.

Duncan says he's new to Milwaukee, didn't know about the law and pointed out it's not posted anywhere in the bus. He says he simply cursed during a conversation and that the words weren't directed at a specific person. He says he'll fight the ticket in court.

A spokeswoman for Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke says he's warned the public about his zero-tolerance approach to disorderly conduct on buses. She says he considers it a quality-of-life issue.

http://www.startribune.com/local/112474039.html

[provis99]

1. someone needs to tell the lawmakers to fuck off.

[Hawkeye-X]

2. It's a violation of their 1st amendment rights too.

The judge should rip up the ticket, and then rip the undercover cop a new one.

Hawkeye-X

[Speck Tater]

3. Next thing you know they will have laws against shitting in the aisle

and other things that make the bus ride unpleasant and uncomfortable for others. Why should it be against the law to treat others with disrespect? Don't we have the right to be as boorish and barbarian as we wish to be? Don't we have the right to ignore other people's sensitivities? What is this world coming to when we can't get on a city bus and shit in the aisle? Who gives a damn about other people's quality of life anyway?

[ohheckyeah]

7. Because swearing on a bus

and shitting in the aisle of a bus are just so similar. Good grief.

[Speck Tater]

8. Because swearing on a bus creates an atmosphere of hostility

It's one thing to swear in a forum like this where people can choose to visit or not to visit, but some people have no choice but to ride the bus and to force them to suffer a hostile environment is just not right. You may think everyone should have the right to be as obnoxious as they wish, but for me, my gift to my community is to treat others with dignity and respect so that they have nothing to fear in my presence. By my attitude toward others I give them the gift of freedom from fear. If you can't see your way clear to giving that same gift to others of your own community then that's your business, I suppose, but it does tell me something about your character.

(ED:sp)

[toastbutter]

12. It depends on how he did it

saying it in a conversational tone is legal (according to the 1st amendment law I've seen) on such a closed environment. Yelling practically anything can be fined on a bus, but mere conversation even if others could clearly hear? Imo, that would be a loser case. He would win.

As an extreme example, if somebody got on a bus with a bullhorn and repeatedly screamed into it "fried eggs", he could be fined.

[Forkboy]

15. One's comfort level has nothing to do with free speech.

Your attitude is laudable, and I rarely swear in public. But if I did and it made you uncomfortable then that's kind of too bad. Not saying that be rude (I would have sweared had I meant to offend you lol), but if you fear someone for what they say that's on you, not them or the Constitution. Unless it's a direct threat than any swear words you hear are just something you have to deal with.

This isn't to say that your approach is wrong in intent and thoughtfulness. But there is no "freedom from fear" guaranteed in the Constitution.

[Speck Tater]

23. True, there is no constitution right to comfort.

There is no constitutional right to love either, but isn't this a better world when people offer each other love? And wouldn't it be a better world if we offered each other security and comfort? Think about what's better for your society. Would you voluntarily forgo exercising a right if in doing so you make the world a better place for all? Or would you put your own right to be crude and vulgar first and foremost and other people's comfort and sense of security be damned?

It seems like an easy choice to me.

[Forkboy]

24. Can I answer this one line at a time?

:)

There is no constitutional right to love either, but isn't this a better world when people offer each other love?

It sure is.

And wouldn't it be a better world if we offered each other security and comfort?

Yep!

Think about what's better for your society.

I do everyday, I swear.

Would you voluntarily forgo exercising a right if in doing so you make the world a better place for all?

The ideal answer is "Yes". The human answer is "Sometimes". And without free speech we'll never make this a better place for all. Count on it.

Or would you put your own right to be crude and vulgar first and foremost and other people's comfort and sense of security be damned?

Well, not first and foremost, but when we get down to around 3rd or 4th place I'm not as concerned about people's comfort as I am about people's right to express themselves freely, no matter how it makes you or I feel. I welcome being made to feel uncomfortable, because it challenges me and makes me think about my own beliefs. And I hope that I never forget to challenge myself and shake myself out of my own comfort zones, especially if the alternative was to take away someone else's speech.

It seems like an easy choice to me.

Same here. See my last paragraph.

[Speck Tater]

25. Well put. I can't honestly see where my argument is any better than yours, so...

it looks like I must concede the point. Well done. :)

If it's all the same to you, however, I will continue to not swear in public, as much because it makes ME feel uncomfortable as for any other reason.

[Forkboy]

27. I was hoping to get you to use the F word in response.

;)

Hope you had a nice Holiday! :toast:

[beyurslf]

16. The atmosphere opf hostility is the opinion of those who are listening to the

man's conversation. It says he was talking and not cursing at someone. What if I have don't like hearing religious drivel. Would someone talking about their Bible study be hostile? What if it was a passage about gays or non Christians going to hell? What if someone is talking about Rush Limbaugh being great? is that hostile?

[Speck Tater]

22. Cursing is often associated with hostility.

It is often the result of anger, and anger can be a precursor to violence, so it is not so irrational to be fearful of, or at the very least cautious around someone who is swearing. A swearing stranger could well be on the verge of throwing things, or taking out a knife and stabbing people. Who knows? Granted that's an unlikely extreme, but a gracious, polite, non-swearing person does not show any symptoms of immanent violence, and leaves people in the vicinity more at ease. It's a simple matter of being civilized, something that seems to be lost on the younger generation who put themselves and their "rights" before all else so that their right to swear and be crude and vulgar supersedes the comfort of other riders. "I'll exercise my rights and you can go to hell."

[ohheckyeah]

20. I didn't say people should swear on a bus, now did I?

Comparing it to shitting in the bus aisle is ridiculous, but you choose to miss the point.

[BlueJazz]

21. 70 percent of the point (to me) is the fine. $500.00 ??? Ridiculous.

[undeterred]

4. I've never heard of someone getting fined for swearing on the bus...

I wonder if they have these undercover deputies on buses with teenagers... they'd need a deputy for each one of them.

[jtuck004]

5. That's a damn shame. n/t

[madinmaryland]

6. Second hand swearing has been shown to kill people.

:D

[rfranklin]

9. Probably not directly but....

many people feel stress when subjected to the conversations of morans and it could contribute to negative effects on health and an early demise.

[Obamanaut]

10. Here you go

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=439&topic_id=66146

[toastbutter]

11. he will likely win

as long as he didn't SCREAM it or some other such, merely saying those words falls well within the 1st amendment, even on the closed environment of the bus imnsho.

[Jkid]

13. 500 bucks, that's excessive.

Order him to pay $50 or at least warn him about his conduct.

[Forkboy]

14. Hope he fucking wins.

[sarcasmo]

17. Milwaukee has the funds to keep undercover cops on public transportation?

Sheriff Clarke needs to realize that swearing is not disorderly conduct.

[LiberalFighter]

18. I doubt they have the funds.

[LiberalFighter]

19. I hope the undercover deputy finds happiness in his new occupation as a burger flipper.

And they castrate the County Sheriff.

[TheKentuckian]

26. I fucking hope wins a suit that would make them wish he gouged their eyes out an skull fucked them

instead or at least as partial relief on the award.