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You Are Now Free to Curse in Pennsylvania

By Brendan McKenna

At long last, Pennsylvanians can now curse a bit more freely. The Pennsylvania State Police department has agreed to stop citing residents for foul language, as part of a settlement announced Tuesday with the American Civil Liberties Union. Residents have long been fined by police for a wide range of cursing offenses, from swearing at a parking ticket issuer to cursing at an overflowing toilet. The settlement has wider implications than one might imagine. In recent years, 700 cursing-related tickets have been issued by the state police, plus hundreds more by local cops -- and thousands of dollars in fines have been collected. All of this happened despite a long ago ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that allowed for cursing deemed nonthreatening and not obsene. It's not just the state police that are facing suits, either -- both Scranton and Pittsburgh have paid thousands of dollars in cursing cases. Brendan McKenna is Law.com's news editor.

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on January 05, 2011 (boomark / email).