Being annoying will soon be illegal...

in one city in Michigan.

Michigan city bans being annoying in public - Yahoo! News

Quote:

BRIGHTON, Mich. – Ticking someone off could get you a ticket in one Michigan city. The Brighton City Council on Thursday approved an ordinance allowing police in the Livingston County community to ticket and fine anyone who is annoying in public "by word of mouth, sign or motions."

The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus of Howell reports the measure is modeled on a similar ordinance in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak.

A city attorney says there could be situations where the measure would violate freedom of speech, but that those cases will be reviewed by the city.

The ban takes effect Jan. 2.

I'm kinda thinking, wouldn't this be a violation of the freedom of speech? And who is going to decide what is considered annoying?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by DarkMageOzzie

And who is going to decide what is considered annoying?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

"Innocent!"

"Throw him to the Sharkticons!"

How ya doing, buddy?

Well fuck. I've already done community service and written a letter of apology for public indecency. This is going to ruin me something fierce.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Bah, everyone in Michigan knows that Royal Oak is a freaking police state--all those suburbs are, acting as they do like a containment wall to keep Detroit in its place.

So yeah, perfect people to use as your model! I wonder if Brighton will adopt the shoot on sight hobo ordinance next.

I was speaking idiomatically.

This law is nothing new to the world of city ordinances. In essence, this is nothing more than an expansion of a previous law that allowed prosecution of targeted harassment ("targeted" being the operative word) in public places. The original law's wording was very scant, limited in scope, and easily circumvented as it stood. The funny thing is that the segment people have been up in arms over (Section 54-98 line (a)) is prior legislation that had been in place since July 2003. Even as it originally was, the ordinance didn't allow the prosecution of people arbitrarily labeled as annoying.


Sensationalism by any other name ("weird news") smells just as rancid.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Quote:

A city attorney says there could be situations where the measure would violate freedom of speech, but that those cases will be reviewed by the city.

Sweet, the city is taking it upon itself to decide whether or not the city's employees are violating the constitution.

FELIPE NO

It's just another tax to be levied. Haha!

Wonder how desperate the cities' fiscal outlook is.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Aaaah, a public nuisance law, always fun~

I didn't realise we had them here until I asked about it because I'm highly inoffensive in public. Mostly.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Wow... I'm surprised I didn't read this in the paper earlier... Oh well, just goes to show how jacked up things are here in Michigan...

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I wasn't aware we needed any more clarification about how much it sucks to live in Michigan.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

My feelings on this ordinance hinge on whether it allows for Mo0 to be banned from Gamingforce to preempt any possibility of a Brightonite being annoyed.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?