Cursing Canoeist’s Conviction Upheld

A judge in Standish, Mich., upheld the conviction of a man who cursed in front of children after falling out of a canoe, ruling that Michigan’s 102-year-old anti-swearing law is constitutional. A district court jury last summer convicted Timothy Boomer, a 26-year-old computer programmer, of violating the ban when he let loose with a stream of profanities. He was fined $75 and ordered to work four days in a child-care program. The sentence was deferred while the case was appealed. “Every noise or utterance does not constitute protected free speech that falls within the . . . 1st Amendment,” Arenac County Judge Ronald Bergeron said.