This Virginia state lawmaker is on a quest to legalize public profanity

Cursing in public has been banned in the state of Virginia since before the Civil War. Even today, public profanity in Old Dominion is a misdemeanor that can cost you $250.

If you think that's some bullshirt, you're not alone, The Washington Post reports: Virginia House Delegate Michael Webert (R) wants to overturn this unusual law in the name of free speech. But Webert's plan could face some opposition in the state legislature, the Post explains, because "legislators who vote for repeal could stand accused of promoting profanity."

The profanity ban was actually ruled unconstitutional decades ago, but Webert has already failed to overturn it twice. Del. David Albo (R), a Webert ally in the battle over cursing, said the quest is difficult because people won't look at the issue in context. He compared profanity to flag burning — bans on which have been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court but still exist in Virginia state law — predicting that some politicians would use the issue to smear their opponents. "They're not going to explain the whole thing. For most people it's not worth it," Albo told the Post.

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Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, the executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union's Virginia affiliate, explained to the Post that although public cursing is only a misdemeanor, police "often" use it as an excuse to detain a subject, conduct a search, and then "arrest the person on another charge."

Webert has a more old-school way to punish foul-mouthed Virginians. "When I cursed, my mother told me not to and handed me a bar of soap," he said. "You shouldn't get hit with a Class 4 misdemeanor."