State Considers Bill Punishing Racial Slurs

In a bill that some say violates First Amendment protections of free speech, State Rep. Benjamin Swan (D-Springfield) has proposed that sworn public officials be punished for using derogatory language about any group.

The Massachusetts legislature's joint Public Safety Committee discussed the bill Monday. A vote is expected in two weeks.

The bill states that inappropriate language use by sworn-in law officers--including police, correctional officers, court personnel and others-should be unlawful and is a violation of officers' oaths of office.

"No racial slurs, name-callings, nor profanity use directed toward another individual shall be used in the course of, during or in the line of duty," the bill reads. "Doing so...shall constitute grounds for dismissal."

Swan said yesterday that the bill would enhance relations between police and community members.

"If we look at social upheaval in the last couple of years, most of it has been caused by name-calling," Swan said.

But some legislators and police officers said they feel that methods of preventing racial slurs are already in place.

"If an officer swears, he is rude and inappropriate, but he shouldn't lose his job. There are internal disciplinary procedures to deal with that," said Cambridge Police Department Spokesperson Frank T. Pasquarello.

State Rep. Timothy J. Toomey (D-Cambridge), house chair of the Public Safety Committee, also said the bill is unnecessary.

"I think that everyone should treat everyone else with respect, but we don't need legislation controlling that type of behavior. To bring this to court is inappropriate," Toomey said.

Opponents of the bill argued that it violates freedom of speech, but Swan denied that his bill inappropriately breaches citizens' rights.

"Free speech doesn't allow you to yell `bomb' in an airport; it doesn't allow you to yell `fire' in a theater," Swan said. "There are a number of things freedom of speech does not allow for when it serves contrary to public well-being."