By Rusty Gates
A 24-year-old downstate resident has found himself in hot water due to his antics during an August 1998 canoe trip on the Rifle River. Timothy Boomer of Roseville fell out of a canoe, and began yelling obscenities in the direction of his friends -- just as a married couple and their two children paddled by.
Boomer insists his language was good-natured. The mother in the canoe insists Boomer was so loud and obscene she had to cup her 2-year-old daughter's ears.
"He yelled the same curse over and over and over and over again." Deputies set up to monitor behavior on the stream happened to be close by. Officer Socia said: "People swear on that river day in and day out, and we don't ticket them. This guy just wouldn't quit."
Boomer is being prosecuted under the 1897 state law prohibiting the use of "indecent, immoral, obscene, vulgar or insulting language in the presence of women and children." Arenac County prosecuted three other people for violating the anti-obscenity law in 1998. The others paid fines.
The case has drawn national attention, airing on several daytime talk shows. The American Civil Liberties Union is representing Boomer. The attorney for the ACLU insists that by today's standards, what his client yelled isn't obscene, and would like the law declared unconstitutional.
At this time, the judge has refused to dismiss the case, ordering Boomer to stand trial; stating that the use of foul language in front of a woman and her children is not protected by the First Amendment's right to free speech. "Mr. Boomer's words were without any socially redeeming quality whatsoever..." If convicted of the criminal misdemeanor, Boomer faces up to 90 days in jail, or a $100 fine.
This incident took place in Arenac County, but could have happened in any county in Northern Michigan where unregulated commercial canoes dominate our streams during summer weekends. Here on the Au Sable, property owners are fed up and are now hiring full-time, arresting deputies to patrol the streams. Indecent exposure, underage drinking, the use of drugs, operating watercraft under the influence of alcohol, and trespass are all common complaints. RWOL
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