A Michigan township is looking to drop the hammer on residents it deems to be annoying.
Plymouth Township leaders are trying to push through a Malicious Communications Ordinance, which “would make it unlawful to send or deliver written messages deemed malicious in nature or use telecommunications services or a device, such as a cell phone–to threaten, harass or otherwise annoy people,” WXYZ reports.
Communicating with someone and causing them to “become fearful” would also be a violation.
The move is being met with, dare we say, annoying communications from residents.
“They intend to thwart any input from the public about what they are doing, how they are doing it and why they are doing things,” one man said outside the meeting.
“When you have hot issues that come up in the township — that seems to be the way things go lately — how do you stop somebody who’s on the board from saying somebody’s harassing them when it’s a hot issue?” a woman wondered.
Under the proposed ordinance, police would determine who was annoying. “Those in violation could face up to a $500 fine or 90 days in jail, or both,” according to the news station.
“When I saw that our neighbors to the south, Canton Township, amended their ordinance to deal with bullying to coincide with our school district that we share, I felt that it was important to bring this ordinance forward,” township supervisor Shannon Price says.
The board failed to pass a “first reading” after the barrage of opposition from residents — who cited First Amendment concerns — but they vow to keep trying.
Supervisor Price wants to have the ordinance in place by October, which is Anti-Bullying Month.
One question remains: Will he bully township board members and residents into meeting his demands? According to his proposed ordinance, as long as he doesn’t use his cell phone or the Internet, he should be golden.
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