Question:
IS it actually illegal to swear in michigan.?
2010-04-01 22:38:10 UTC
im just wondering, i live in michigan, i heard you can get Fined for swearing in public. But ive never seen that law actually enforced. in fact i said the f-bomb to a police officer and im 15, so im still confused. but ya....TEll me the answer to this! and (if so) how much could i get fined?
Ten answers:
?
2010-04-01 23:02:36 UTC
no..
2017-01-19 05:05:33 UTC
1
2016-01-06 00:53:57 UTC
It was, but isn t now, and any laws regarding it still on the books aren t really enforceable.



Michigan did have a law, passed in 1897, which made it a misdemeanor to use indecent, immoral, vulgar or insulting language in the presence or hearing of women or children. A canoeist, after having fallen in the Rifle River, was convicted of violating that law in August of 1998. An appeal of that conviction led to the Michigan Court of Appeals ruling that said law was unconstitutional in 2002. It was officially repealed by Michigan s legislature in 2016, as part of a legislative initiative to clear several outdated laws from its books. However, in 2003 Gerald Henning, an elderly corn and soybean farmer in Hudson Township, Lenewee County, MI, was charged with violating a similar law prohibiting vulgar and offensive language on a telephone. The charge was dismissed by a Circuit Court judge in Lansing, MI, in 2004, as it was similarly found to be an unconstitutional suppression of freedom of speech as protected by the first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.



There is a state law prohibiting blasphemy which remains on the books, but it likely also isn t enforceable, for the same reasons as given above.



(Note: I am not a lawyer.)
Lee
2010-04-01 22:44:54 UTC
I read a story about a gentleman who was arrested for swearing in public a number of years ago but it appears the law is no longer on the books.
Igor Terrible
2010-04-01 23:30:43 UTC
Oh it's just one of those chestnuts that never got abolished like the one about London taxis having to keep a bail of hay in the boot (trunk) for the horse.



It's true that very occaisionally someone get arrested for 'cussing', usually a stream of obscenities- but even that gets overturned so I wouldn't worry too much about it, you are probably more likely to get arrested for littering or jaywalking, or being in a bad mood, or is that Canada?



PS. I hear France is bringing in a law against verbal attacks...could be interesting- see link
?
2014-12-06 07:49:07 UTC
As long as your 'f-bomb' didn't involve Christian deities, looks like you're OK.



Michigan Penal Code:



750.102 Blasphemy; punishment.

Sec. 102.



Punishment—Any person who shall wilfully blaspheme the holy name of God, by cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.



750.103 Cursing and swearing.

Sec. 103.



Cursing and swearing—Any person who has arrived at the age of discretion, who shall profanely curse or damn or swear by the name of God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. No such prosecution shall be sustained unless it shall be commenced within 5 days after the commission of such offense.
┌  ♛  ┐ Cʟᴏᴄᴋᴡᴏʀᴋ Gᴇɴᴛʜᴜʟʜᴜ
2010-04-01 22:48:07 UTC
It is illegal to swear in front of women and children in Michigan.

In 2002 the law was seen as unconstitutional but it was never officially repealed.

I'm not sure if you can go to prison for the offense, but you can be fined.
?
2010-04-01 22:44:21 UTC
http://moralityinmedia.org/nolc/stateObscLaws/michigan.pdf



According to Michigan Law, the Obscenity Statute does not apply to spoken words.
2016-03-03 10:18:32 UTC
I think that,s depend on the situation, you should be understand every thing about a girl and then make plan about the talk with her!!! girls mostly like to talk about her self every time..
2010-04-01 22:41:03 UTC
yes its very illegal im surprised you didnt get thrown in prison actually its a federal offense. consider that your only warning


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