Coakley: Middleboro should flush ban on swearing

A Massachusetts towns bylaw against public profanity appears to violate constitutional free speech rights and should not be enforced, the states attorney general said in a recommendation today.

Middleborough, a town of about 23,000, received national attention in June when residents at a town meeting voted 183-50 to approve an article that allowed police to enforce a 1968 bylaw by imposing a $20 fine against loud and obscene language. Supporters of the measure said it was meant to discourage groups of foul-mouthed youths who congregated on downtown streets or public parks.

The article was reviewed by Attorney General Martha Coakleys office, which said in Tuesdays ruling that the enforcement mechanism itself the $20 fine did not violate state or federal law.

"However, we have determined that some of the underlying by-laws passed more than 30 years ago no longer meet constitutional standards and those by-laws should be repealed by the town, and in the meantime, not actively enforced," said Emalie Gainey, a spokeswoman for Coakley.

The attorney general specifically urged repeal of the 1968 bylaw barring "profane" language in public, saying it would violate First Amendment free speech guarantees.

Coakley also recommended the town consider changes in two other bylaws a 1972 measure against the making of an "alarming or tumultuous noise," and an antiquated 1927 bylaw that prohibited, among other things, throwing snow balls or playing football on a public street.

She stressed her office had no authority to overturn the existing bylaws, since they had been approved by previous attorneys general.

Mimi Duphily, a former town selectwoman who pushed for the fine against swearing, said it was not clear what the impact of Tuesdays decision would be or if it might prompt repeal of the 1968 bylaw.

But she strongly defended the towns crackdown on profanity.

"This has nothing to do with freedom of speech," Duphily said. "This is about verbal assault."

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Coakley: Middleboro should flush ban on swearing