Oberlin's President Says No

cobrat
Sat, 23 Jan 2016 22:11:50 +0000

Even in the presence of a license plate, the first amendment protects the right to be a jerk if you so choose, which leaves the police with their hands tied until laws are broken.

The first amendment does not give license for an individual to harass others in a threatening manner. Some towns also have ordinances against public displays of obscenity and even public profanity which can result in fines or sometimes even jail time:

http://ecode360.com/11512899

http://business.time.com/2012/06/13/what-the-cursing-in-public-in-this-massachusetts-town-will-cost-you-20/

http://www.csmonitor.com/1997/0327/032797.us.us.5.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/06/16/cursing-in-arlington-could-cost-you-250/

Not saying I necessarily agree with all of these laws. Just that the first-amendment doesn’t necessarily give others carte blanche license to behave in a threatening manner towards others or sometimes even publicly utter profanity in public in some areas.