Case to Look at Obscenity, Free Expression in the Courtroom

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit will hear a case Sept. 21 that explores how far a judge can go in curbing expression in a courtroom. The issue arises from pro se litigant Robert Peoples' reaction after a South Carolina federal district judge dismissed his lawsuit last year. That caused Peoples to tell a clerk that the judge should "get the f--- off all my cases." The next day the judge, Cameron McGowan Currie, gave Peoples a four-month stint behind bars. The National Law Journal looks at obscenity and courtroom expression.