What the @#$%!!@$#?
BY JACQUELINE G. GOODWIN, ED.D.
We all know what “bad words” are. Unlike most other language rules, we learn about swearwords and how to use them without any real study or classroom instruction. Even when we were very young, we knew which words were naughty – although we didn’t always know exactly what those words meant.
The Constitution of the United States guarantees that people have the right to freedom of speech in the First Amendment. So at first glance, it seems like people should be able to swear whenever they want and wherever they want because of their First Amendment rights. However, constitutional law can be tricky, and a wealth of court cases has led to a wide variety of judgments surrounding swearing.
The courts have examined the use of swearing in the contexts of inciting people to violence, defamation and threats. They have generally ruled that the government does not have the right to prevent blasphemy against a specific religion or to prosecute someone solely for the use of an expletive. On the other hand, they have upheld convictions of people who used profanity to incite riots, harass people or disturb the peace.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court follows U.S. Supreme Court holdings on obscenity, which refers to speech that is more violent, graphic and sexual than the seven dirty words of George Carlin fame.
This year, Pennsylvania State Police records show that over 750 citations have been given by state troopers in the last year for using profanity or profane gestures.
So in light of case law, can Pennsylvania State Police cite someone just for uttering a profanity? No, says the American Civil Liberties Union in a pair of free-speech lawsuits filed on behalf of plaintiffs around the state including a pizza delivery driver briefly jailed for cursing at a local officer over a parking ticket and a woman cited by state police for hurling a derogatory name at a swerving motorcyclist.
ACLU lawyers say that simply using profanity, regardless of who it is aimed at, is not disorderly conduct and that the use of profanity should be protected under the First Amendment.
The rationale behind these two lawsuits is that using profanity, even when doing so in front of an officer of the law, is not by definition obscene. And legal precedent sides with the toilet tongues. Profane language that is not obscene is protected by the First Amendment.
As such, Pennsylvania courts have repeatedly ruled that profanity, and even profane gestures, are protected by the Constitution.
The ACLU believes that the true problem in these instances is a lack of police training, and that the issue really boils down to “the difference between the colloquial definition of obscenity and the legal definition of obscenity.” In other words, untrained officials are applying the law in a manner that is not consistent with the definitions set forth by the actual law and are using their personal judgment. Obscene then becomes whatever language they find offensive.
Many members of our society find cursing or using profane gestures to be offensive. Some find it even more offensive when directed toward officers of the law, individuals who make it their job to protect and defend our way of life. While this type of language may not be too easy on the ears, these words are, after all, commonly used as a means of expressing emotions.
Of course, I’ve always considered it pretty dumb to curse at police. Why give them motivation to consider what else they can think to charge me with? However, the First Amendment clearly gives me the right to do so if I choose.
Swearing at law-enforcement is tantamount to criticizing the government, and being able to do that without going to jail is one of the most important freedoms we have in this country. This freedom sets us apart from so many other countries in the world.
But when we start policing profanity because it leaves a bad taste in our mouths, it leaves the door open for the policing of so much more. In the end, free speech is free speech, even if we don’t agree with the profanity someone is using to express a point. HBG
