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Politics & ReligionWell Since every damn forum has one. Might as well leave it out there. This place is loosely moderated and should not be entered if you're weak of heart.
A man is risking a fine for having an "offensive" slogan on his T-shirt. So, what can you print on one?
He thought it was a bit of a laugh, but Peterborough City Council failed to see the funny side of David Pratt's T-shirt.
He has been threatened with a £80 penalty notice after wearing a top with the slogan: "Don't piss me off! I am running out of places to hide the bodies."
After an official complaint was made to the council, street wardens told Mr Pratt his T-shirt could cause offence or incite violence. He faces an on-the-spot fine from the police if he wears it again.
Interpretation
What you can and can't print on a T-shirt is largely down to interpretation. What one person might find funny, another could find insulting - a point reinforced in the comments of Mr Pratt's wife, Elly, who bought the T-shirt in Los Angeles.
THE ANSWER
Using offensive, abusive, or insulting language is a criminal offence under the Public Order Act
This applies to printed words as well as spoken ones
Mrs Pratt doesn't consider the offending word to be a swear word. "It is not particularly nice word, but in my view is not a swear word," she said.
Using threatening, abusive, or insulting language is a criminal offence under Section 5 of the Public Order Act, even if it's printed on a T-shirt. This applies in England and Wales, in Scotland such an incident would be classed as breach of the peace, says the Law Society of Scotland.
It is not necessary for someone to have made an official complaint for the police to act, they just have to think it might offend a hypothetical third party, says criminal solicitor Louise Christian.
The legislation has been interpreted in a number of ways in recent years.
One shopkeeper was threatened with arrest for displaying a toddler's T-shirt in his shop window that had the slogan: "Winner of the egg and sperm race."
Pub sign
Police said they had received a complaint and told Tim Price the garment was offensive and would have to be removed from the window of his clothes shop in Brighton.
A landlord was also ordered to remove a sign outside his pub in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, which said: "Faggots and mince not on the menu." A complaint was made to police by the previous tenants, a homosexual couple.
Probably the most high-profile row over "offensive" slogans is the French Connection advertising campaign in Britain which used FCUK.
In 2003, a shop keeper in Bishop's Stortford was asked by police to remove an "offensive" T-shirt from a front window display which depicted a drawing of a naked woman straddling her male lover, with the slogan 'the Joy of fcuk' underneath.
However, it's not clear whether the image or the wording, or both, were judged to be "offensive".
The slogan certainly riled the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which upheld 26 complaints about the logo. However, the slogan was eventually allowed in adverts after being registered as a trademark.
Story from BBC NEWS:
__________________
"I cannot undertake to lay my finger
on that article of the Constitution
which granted a right to Congress of expending,
on the objects of benevolence,
the money of their constituents."
James Madison
Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
"When government undertakes to solve man's problem for him it undertakes the mastery of society and it cannot be both master and servant."E.C. Riegel
And there's no reason to believe this kinda shit won't happen in USA.
They should grab their guns and revolt.
Oh. nm. Sorry.
It very well could happen in this country. So long as the "silent majority" stays that way, the masses will be forced to bite their lip and let this country be run by the very vocal minority. "Thats offends me", "thats not fair", and "I dont like your opinion, it shouldn't be allowed" will be more and more common.
I dont exactly like what ol' Imus said, but the guy got fired and now is being sued? WTF? Now the guy will have to pay out thousands of dollars to defend himself from a lawsuit about him using his 1st amendment right?
Now, free speech is a right, but it isn't free. One must take responibility for what they say, and it was the right of his employer to can him.
__________________
"What? Thats no country I've ever heard of, do they speak English in What?"
And there's no reason to believe this kinda shit won't happen in USA.
They should grab their guns and revolt.
Oh. nm. Sorry.
It very well could happen in this country. So long as the "silent majority" stays that way, the masses will be forced to bite their lip and let this country be run by the very vocal minority. "Thats offends me", "thats not fair", and "I dont like your opinion, it shouldn't be allowed" will be more and more common.
I dont exactly like what ol' Imus said, but the guy got fired and now is being sued? WTF? Now the guy will have to pay out thousands of dollars to defend himself from a lawsuit about him using his 1st amendment right?
Now, free speech is a right, but it isn't free. One must take responibility for what they say, and it was the right of his employer to can him.
__________________
"What? Thats no country I've ever heard of, do they speak English in What?"
Maybe one of you P&R browsers can help me out. I was reading the bio of an American writer from way way back in the day.
I believe he was a botanist but also wrote about people's ability to overthrow the government, not w/ guns and taking of innocent life, but w/ resistance rather than acceptance to the encroachment of government on your freedoms.
His work is cited or referenced by Ghandi, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, et all as part of their methods for resistence.
I can't remember the guy's name and I had only begun to read through his bio and work. Anybody know the name? I'll know it if I see it. kthx
And yes I tried but apparently can't dig this one up. grrr
There was a post on this site by someone who managed an Olive Garden. They got a complaint from a customer about some guy eating that had a T-shirt that said F#%k you or something offense like that. He asked the guy to change his shirt. I know there is a right to refuse service at most places but really it is just censorship. Get used to it.
There was a post on this site by someone who managed an Olive Garden. They got a complaint from a customer about some guy eating that had a T-shirt that said F#%k you or something offense like that. He asked the guy to change his shirt. I know there is a right to refuse service at most places but really it is just censorship. Get used to it.
. . . .as free speech slowly dies. . . .
but apparently can't dig this one up. grrr
