Trial Begins for Man Charged With Cursing

In a case pitting free speech advocates against those who would stop offensive language, a man went on trial Thursday on charges that he yelled a barrage of obscenities in front of women and children when his canoe overturned.

Timothy Boomer, 25, of Roseville could face 90 days in jail or a $100 fine if convicted of violating the 102-year-old law.

Boomer does not deny he let off steam, but said he didn’t see anyone but his friends and that his shouts were in jest. He denies using the four-letter obscenities that police allege.

Michael Smith, 32, who was canoeing the Rifle River last summer with his wife, 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter, said that Boomer shouted the F-word 50 to 75 times over a span of several minutes.

“I was afraid for my family. My adrenaline was rushing, my hands were tingling, my wife was covering my daughter’s ears and I was trying to get through there as fast as I could,” Smith said.

Boomer doesn’t deny that he used some foul language after he hit a rock and fell into the river, but says he didn’t know children were nearby in the recreation area about 120 miles north of Detroit.

Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union, backing Boomer, argued that his words were free speech protected under the 1st Amendment and asked District Judge Allen Yenior to throw out the case.

Yenior rejected the argument, ruling that there was a compelling community interest “in protecting the morality of our children. If Mr. Boomer’s words, when used as they were, were constitutionally protected speech, then a person could stand on a crowded public beach and shout those same words all day,” Yenior wrote in his February ruling that allowed the trial to take place.

Arenac County Sheriff Deputy Kenneth Socia testified that he heard Boomer’s string of obscenities from a quarter-mile away. He said he had only issued one other ticket under the 1897 law, but Boomer’s tirade warranted the action.

The case, broadcast live nationally on Court TV, has become a topic on radio talk shows across the country, and a source of jokes locally.

“I canoed down the Rifle River, but don’t ask me to swear to it,” read one T-shirt.

The defense is expected to call its witnesses in the case today.

“We’re talking about criminalizing ordinary, day-to-day speech--language that just about everybody in the country has used personally from time to time,” said defense attorney William Street, handling the case on behalf of the ACLU.