$500 Fine For Public Swearing?!

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

Terry Duncan said 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 last Tuesday, an undercover deputy ordered him off the vehicle and handed him the ticket.

Duncan said he's new to Milwaukee, didn't know about the law and pointed out it's not posted anywhere in the bus. He said he'll fight the ticket in court.

A spokeswoman for Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke said he's warned the public about his zero-tolerance approach to disorderly conduct on buses.

Read more: http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20101227/APC0101/101227037/Milwaukee-man-fined-500-for-swearing-on-county-bus#ixzz19XJcHLJg

Comment:

WTF?! This is getting ridiculous. Alright, I agree that public swearing only serves to show ignorance and crudeness, and I could understand kicking someone off of a bus for swearing, but a $500 fine? Maybe state governments are getting so desperate for revenue, that they are using any technicalities they can think of to extort money from people? What's going to be next? Did you know some cities actually have ordinances that require people to cover their mouths and noses when they cough or sneeze under penalty of fine? Covering your mouth/nose is common courtesy. But to start fining people for rudeness? That's ludicrous. Rudeness is ignorance, and since when is ignorance a crime?

Comrades, I'll admit that when it comes to this sort of ignorance, I've been as guilty as the next one. I've sworn in public. Almost everyone does at one time or another. Hell, I've sworn on this blog. I know I really shouldn't. It serves no legitimate purpose. We should all watch our language, at least in public. The Media likes to paint a picture of National Socialists as crude, foul-mouthed hate mongers. Watch the swearing, the racial slurs, and other crudities. Let's NEVER give them what they want. At least not with this sort of thing.