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A blow in court backing civility

According to dogmatic dictates of "tolerance," Americans must put up with virtually any public behavior, no matter how noxious, in the name of "freedom." To exercise any controls upon decency and decorum, claims the ACLU, is to infringe upon rights that laid in the Constitution for most of the nation's history, undiscovered by any court.

Last week, however, a Michigan jury stood up to the ACLU and its anything-goes ideology.

Jurors in Arenac County, in Michigan's thumb, about 130 miles north of Detroit, convicted Timothy Boomer of cursing in public. Last summer, after falling out of his canoe near campgrounds on the Rifle River, Boomer boomed out a blue streak of foul language, not just for a moment but for several minutes. In his defense, his attorney excusified that Boomer "at worst said an f-word or two..."

Only a few years ago, it would have been unthinkable to say, let alone shout, such words in public. But in an age when the act of shushing a cursing person is considered to be an act of extremism, extreme rudeness and crudeness reigns.

Folks along the Rifle River some time ago let authorities know they had had quite enough of loud, drunken boaters and canoeists disturbing their outdoor family fun. And so when the hapless Boomer flipped out of his canoe, police were nearby to hear him embarrass himself &emdash; and to cite an 1897 ban on swearing in front of children. A jury has convicted him, despite &emdash; or perhaps because of &emdash; his being defended by the ACLU itself. He now faces a fine and a possible short stay in jail; the latter is exceedingly unlikely.

The ACLU contends that the Arenac County ordinance against public cursing is unconstitutional. Is it? Long-standing precedent argues not. Nearly a century ago, Justice Holmes famously prescribed limits to free speech: There is no right to holler "Fire!" in a crowded theater. Nor is there an unfettered right to shout obscenities. The jury in Arenac County has struck a blow for civility.

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