Movie actors say it on screen. Some artists put it in their songs.
But using the “F-word” in public places is starting to get Houston-area residents handcuffed or arrested.
For the second time within the past eight months, a person using the word during private conversations in public places — once at a Wal-Mart in La Marque and then at a Mexican restaurant in Galveston — have been taken into custody and cited for disorderly conduct.
While the word is vulgar, disrespectful and in poor taste, constitutional scholars such at T. Gerald Treece, an associate dean at the South Texas College of Law, believe “criminalizing” the word is a violation of free speech.
Such a word has to “excite violence or an immediate disruption, where people feel they are forced to leave or not participate in an activity” before police action would be warranted, he said.
State law says the use of abusive, indecent, profane or vulgar language in a public place, which causes an “immediate breach of peace,” meets the definition of disorderly conduct.
Officer makes the call
Abraham Urquizo, 35, a visitor from Jamaica, N.Y., was arrested this week at Salsa’s Mexican and Seafood Restaurant on Seawall Boulevard in Galveston after twice using the word to berate his girlfriend, officials said.
A Galveston police officer overhead the conversation in which Urquizo was reported to have said, “I can’t believe you’re so (expletive deleted) stupid” which was followed by “what the (expletive deleted) were you thinking.”
The officer, eating his dinner nearby, took Urquizo outside to caution him about his speech , said Galveston police spokesman, Lt. D.J. Alvarez. The restaurant’s manager then stated the use of the word had offended him and asked the officer to do something, Alvarez said.
The officer arrested Urquizo on a charge of disorderly conduct.
Urquizo could not be reached for comment, but he has since pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor offense. The judge assessed his punishment as the hours he had already spent in jail prior to the pleading.
“Rather than arrest the customer, the appropriate response would have been for the manager to ask him to leave the premises. That was within the manager’s rights” said Treece, the law school dean. “But the government should not make the call.”
Out of batteries
However, he said citizens often “want to get on with their lives and don’t fight it,” although the La Marque case is headed for trial on May 1.
In this case, 28-year-old Kathryn “Kristi” Fridge, went to a Wal-Mart on Aug. 4 to buy batteries before Tropical Storm Edouard arrived.
After finding the battery shelf empty, she told the Chronicle that she turned to her mother and remarked, “They’re all (expletive deleted) gone!”
Capt. Alfred Decker, a La Marque assistant fire marshal who also is a certified peace officer, overheard the conversation.
He came from around the corner to tell her, “You need to watch your mouth,” she said.
When she told him it was a private conversation and none of his business, she said he ordered her outside so that he could retrieve his citation book and ticket her for disorderly conduct.
La Marque Fire Chief Todd Zacheri said Fridge had created a scene by cursing the officer and everyone else present, causing a “huge group” to gather.
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