Public Defender Briefs A History Of The “F” Word

The Smoking Gun has already awarded its “prestigious 2003 Legal Document of the Year award” to PD Eric Vanatta, who defended a Colorado teenager charged with disorderly conduct for “cursing [an] administrator with some variants of the "F” word. His main defense was a rather unique motion:

The District Court document is an amusing and profane look at the world’s favorite four-letter word, from its origins in 1500 to today’s frequent use of the term by Eminem, Chris Rock, and Lenny Kravitz. The criminal charge, Vanatta argued in the motion, was not warranted since the use of the popular curse is protected by the First Amendment. TSG’s favorite part of the motion is the chart comparing Google results for the “F” word and other all-American terms like mom, baseball, and apple pie. Sadly, Vanatta never got the chance to argue his motion before a judge. Because ten days ago he cut a plea deal that deferred prosecution of his client for four months–if the kid stays out of trouble during that period, the charge gets dismissed.

You have to admire the PD’s creativity and somewhat tongue-in-cheek humor. I just wish he could have gotten an actual ruling… :-p

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