No, this law was not written in the 1800s, and yes the police are actually enforcing a Virginia ban on using “curse words”.
If you are in the City of Arlington, you could be faced with a $250 if you say words that county officials have defined as “profanity”.
The Arlington County Board recently approved the bizarre measure which increases penalties for both public intoxication as well as what they are calling “blue language” from $100 to $250.
This code change was adopted during last Saturday’s board meeting, not in 1852. It came at the request of the Arlington Police Department itself, which reported making 664 arrests for public inebriation as well as “potty language” in 2014 alone!
Now, they say they want more latitude, to include a wider array of words that they can arrest people for.
We asked the police as well as city officials how many of those 664 arrests were specifically for the use of such “blue language,” but both declined to tell us the break down.
The city officials did note, however, that the new revised regulation replaced the word “drunkenness” with “intoxication” so they can more easily crack down on anyone if they appear “intoxicated” even if they do not have any alcohol in their system.
This ordinance adopted by Arlington is not unique to the city. It actually brings the city in line with the broader, statewide Virginia law which bans “profanity” and classifies it as a Class 4 misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $250.
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