Boomer was charged with swearing under a 101-year-old Michigan law

June 9, 1999
Web posted at: 10:28 p.m. EDT (0228 GMT)

In this story: 'Law is asinine' To swear, or not to swear No 'fighting words' in front of children RELATED STORIES, SITES

STANDISH, Michigan (CNN) -- A trial begins Thursday to determine whether a man's allegedly expletive-filled outburst is constitutionally protected speech or unprotected "fighting words."

Defendant Timothy Boomer, 25, won't repeat the string of obscenities he's said to have shouted last August when he fell out of his canoe after it hit a rock on the Rifle River. But he insisted his words have been exaggerated.

He got in trouble with the law not for swearing, but for doing it in front of children.

"He was simply screaming out (obscenities) for several minutes in a monologue with a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old child present," says Arenac County prosecutor Rich Vollbach.

Boomer was charged by a passing sheriff's deputy under a 101-year-old Michigan law that prohibits using any indecent, immoral, vulgar or insulting language in the presence of children.

Boomer can't believe he could face a $100 fine and 90 days in jail just for swearing.

"I thought it was a lie," says Boomer. "I think the officers were out to patrol underage drinking, and I got accused of a 101-year old law."

'Law is asinine'

Both a law professor and the American Civil Liberties Union, which is defending Boomer, say the law is ridiculous.

"He was mad, he was wet, it was an emotional reaction," says Kary Moss of the ACLU. "Can you imagine if we have police starting to go out and arrest people because they swear on the street?"

"(Author Charles) Dickens said 'the law is an ass,' and in this case the law is asinine in attempting to criminally prosecute a man who wanted to apologize for uttering some cuss words after falling in a river," says Larry Dubin, a professor at the University of Detroit-Mercy Law School.

But prosecutor Vollbach says that if Boomer won't pay the $100 fine, he has no choice but to take the case to court.

"Mr. Boomer wasn't expressing any thoughts or ideas at the time. Certainly this couldn't be considered artistic, so I don't think there was First Amendment coverage for what he did that day," Vollbach says.

To swear, or not to swear

Many residents in rural Arenac County hope the case will help make common courtesy fashionable once more.

"With women and children around, he should have held it down," says one man.

"I just hope the message gets out that we should respect each other," says Ladd White, who runs a canoe livery along the Rifle River.

But another resident of Standish says, "Men are going to be men and swear anyway, and so are women."

This T-shirt reads 'Talk dirty to me but not in Standish, Michigan'

No 'fighting words' in front of children

Judge Allen Yenior, who will preside over the trial, ruled in February that the prohibition on cussing in front of women is unconstitutional.

But Yenior upheld the law as it pertains to children, saying Boomer's alleged expletives could be considered "fighting words," which the court has ruled lack constitutional protection.

Win or lose, this trial is turning cussing into a dirty word in the town of Standish.

Detroit Bureau Chief Ed Garsten and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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