The Free Speech Police will never give up, and the problematic policies are moving closer to home. So far this year San Francisco and New York have both adopted policies that infringe on the first amendment, and one Massachusetts Legislator is looking to catch up fast.
A bill to ban the word ‘bitch’ from being directed at another person to “annoy, accost, degrade or demean.” The text of the bill introduced by Rep. Daniel J Hunt, Boston, is:
Section 53 of chapter 272 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:-
Bill H.3719 MA Leg
(c) A person who uses the word “bitch” directed at another person to accost, annoy, degrade or demean the other person shall be considered to be a disorderly person in violation of this section, and shall be subject to the penalties provided in subsections (a) and (b). A violation of this subsection may be reported by the person to whom the offensive language was directed at or by any witness to such incident.
So, what are the penalties as described in subsections (a) and (b)?
Section 53. (a) Common night walkers, common street walkers, both male and female, persons who with offensive and disorderly acts or language accost or annoy another person, lewd, wanton and lascivious persons in speech or behavior, keepers of noisy and disorderly houses, and persons guilty of indecent exposure shall be punished by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than 6 months, or by a fine of not more than $200, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
MA General Laws Chapter 272 Section 63
(b) Disorderly persons and disturbers of the peace shall, for a first offense, be punished by a fine of not more than $150. For a second or subsequent offense, disorderly persons and disturbers of the peace shall be punished by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than 6 months or by a fine of not more than $200 or by both such fine and imprisonment; provided, however, that an elementary or secondary school student shall not be adjudged a delinquent child for a violation of this subsection for such conduct within school buildings or on school grounds or in the course of school-related events.
6 months in prison for using a word to annoy someone? What kind of a world are we moving into?
My grandmother always used to say ‘sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.’ That was the way I was raised. Has that stopped being a thing now?
Granted, words can hurt. But the reaction borne to those words is entirely the responsibility of the person reacting. The person using words is not responsible for YOUR feelings. Period.
It seems highly unlikely that any of these free speech bills would survive a constitutional challenge, of course, and Rep. Hunt is just wasting legislators’ time and taxpayer’s money. But it goes to show the exact thought process of those on the left and their attempts to ban things ‘that hurt feelings’ or they don’t like.
Hunt defended the bill in the Boston Herald, saying the bill was introduced on behalf of a constituent.