It took 105 years and a ridiculous accusation, but a state appeals court panel did the right thing Monday and ruled Michigan’s archaic law banning vulgar language in front of women and children unconstitutional.

The statute, enacted in 1897 and revised in 1931, states that anyone using “indecent, immoral, obscene, vulgar or insulting language in the presence or hearing of any woman or children shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.”

The law became the center of controversy after the 1999 conviction of Timothy Joseph Boomer for violating it.

After tumbling out of his canoe into Michigan’s Rifle River, near West Branch, Boomer was heard uttering a string of swear words by a woman and her children.

Boomer was ticketed by law enforcement officers upon the conclusion of his trip and found guilty of violating the 1897 statute by an Arenac County jury.

The swearer contested the decision on the grounds that it violated his First Amendment right to free speech, but that argument was rejected by two local judges. Thankfully, because of the appeals panel, justice has finally triumphed over an oppressive and wrong law.

The three-judge panel declared the law unconstitutional because it was too vague and said it had potential to allow a “vast percentage of the populace” to face the wrath of state law enforcers.

It is not the role of the government to violate citizens’ right to free speech - which includes a right to utter swear words, however inappropriate.

The appeals court made the right decision. The only bad part is it took so long to get this repulsive anti-swearing law overturned.

As the court pointed out, it would be extremely difficult to find a Michiganian who hasn’t violated the state’s anti-swearing statue at least once in his or her lifetime.

Boomer was justified in fighting for his constitutional rights. And the overzealous law enforcers and interpreters in Arenac County should be ashamed of themselves for oppressing their fellow citizen so severely.

The American legal system is designed to operate on the ideals that it protects the rights of the people, not infringes upon them.

We cannot allow our government, that works “for the people, by the people,” to stand in the way of our right to freedom.

If we did, we would live in the very type of oppressive country we send our troops in to liberate. The United States would and could not be free if we allowed unconstitutional statutes to reign over our basic values.