In Leonard v. Robinson, (6th Cir., Feb. 2, 2007), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment to defendant and sent back for trial a civil rights claim growing out of an arrest of a local resident Thomas Leonard who got into a heated argument at a Montrose (MI) Township Board meeting. In a 2-1 decision, the majority held that “no reasonable officer would have found probable cause to arrest Leonard solely for uttering “God damn” while addressing the township board because the First Amendment protects this sort of uninhibited debate”. In the course of its opinion, the majority held unconstitutional Michigan Compiled Laws § 750.103 that makes it a misdemeanor for “Any person who has arrived at the age of discretion … [to] profanely curse or damn or swear by the name of God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost….” The majority said that the section “if not facially invalid, is radically limited by the First Amendment”. The majority also found constitutional problems with the potential application of three other Michigan statutes to Leonard’s speech.
Judge Sutton, dissenting in part, said: “While I am prepared to accept the majority’s judgment that the application of all four statutes to Leonard violated his First Amendment rights, I am not prepared to accept its judgment that the Supreme Court, our court or the Michigan courts had clearly established the unconstitutionality of all four of these duly enacted laws before this incident.” The Associated Press today reported on the decision. [Thanks to How Appealing for the lead.]
