The World

Is it your constitutional right to swear?

As part of a settlement in a federal free-speech lawsuit, state police in Pennsylvania have agreed to stop citing citizens for using bad language.

Conflict & Justice

It is now legal to swear in Pennsylvania. As part of a settlement in a federal free-speech lawsuit, state police in Pennsylvania have agreed to stop citing citizens for using bad language. The American Civil Liberties Union represented citizens who had received tickets for cursing. Mary Catherine Roper, staff attorney with the Pennsylvania ACLU, was instrumental in bringing forward this lawsuit.

She explains that although you can use expletives while breaking the law, using the expletive, itself, is not against the law. Roper says that you can’t legally limit what people say in public.

Is it your constitutional right to swear? - The World from PRX