Recently a Massachusets town, Middleborough, passed a resolution making profanity an offense you can be ticketed for. If the Massachusetts Attorney General approves it, you will soon start receiving $20 tickets for public profanity.

From what I've read, there are no guidelines in the new resolution as to what exactly constitutes profanity. Our Courts have repeatedly struck down laws that are general in nature and don't explicitly outline unlawful/lawful actions.

All that aside, what gives Middleborough the authority to infringe on our First Amendment right to free speech? Former Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan II wrote in Cohen vs California that one mans profanity is another mans lyric. As it stands right now, in no small part due to the previously  mentioned Supreme Court decision, the First Amendment protects profanity unless it’s coupled with true threats, fighting words or an incitement to imminent lawless action.

So when do we as a People, stand up to these politicians who write and pass laws in direct violation of the Constitution and say enough is enough and start voting these folks out of office? I for one, start now.