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Michigan Governor Does Away With Outdated Laws

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning, I'm David Greene. In Michigan, if you swear in front of a woman, you can no longer be thrown in jail. Now, I am not encouraging doing it. It's just no longer a crime. This is one of the outdated laws Michigan's governor did away with this week. The law said you can't curse in front of a woman or a child. It was actually used in 1998 to convict a guy who screamed the F word during a canoeing mishap. He became known as the Cussing Canoeist. Oh, in Michigan these days, you can now also sing the national anthem out of tune and not be thrown in jail. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.