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>I think "fighting words" is still a real thing in this sense: If I go into a bar, and say the wrong thing about someone's mother, the law is not going to be su
by marcoperaza 9y ago
>I think "fighting words" is still a real thing in this sense: If I go into a bar, and say the wrong thing about someone's mother, the law is not going to be surprised that they throw a punch at me.
You're incredibly mistaken, and if you act on this misinformation, you're going to find yourself in prison for assault and battery. The "fighting words" doctrine has been repeatedly narrowed over time by subsequent decisions (and may not even exist anymore), and never excused any violence in the first place. It was an exception to free speech, not the provisions in the criminal code that prohibit violence.
- trynumber9 9y ago> If I go into a bar, and say the wrong thing about someone's mother He'll be imprisoned for insulting someone's mother?
- RickHull 9y agoNo -- you've got the roles reversed: the claim is that he will be imprisoned if he assaults the insulter, claiming that the insulter provoked him with "fighting words"
- marcoperaza 9y agoThink a little more broadly here. If he thinks that someone would be justified in throwing a punch if he insults their mother, then he presumably thinks that he would be justified in throwing a punch in the opposite situation.