NORFOLK
It's doubtful that rapper Raymond "Boots" Riley will ever be invited to perform again at Town Point Park, but if he is, he can curse to his heart's content.
The City Council voted 7-1 on Tuesday to revise an ordinance that made cursing in public a crime. A nearly identical statute in Virginia Beach was ruled unconstitutional nearly two decades ago by the Virginia Court of Appeals.
Riley, a California rapper, was charged with a misdemeanor for using the F-word at a concert at the Bayou Boogaloo and Cajun Food Festival in late June.
Fraim, who is an attorney, said he doubted the constitutionality of the charge when he learned of it and asked City Attorney Bernard A. Pishko to investigate.
He did, and shortly thereafter, charges against Riley were dropped.
Officials said that the charges were dropped mostly because Riley's cursing did not involve "fighting words," meant to incite violence.
Tuesday's ordinance removed a provision from a statute that makes it a crime "to profanely curse or swear" in public.
That didn't please all council members. Don Williams voted for the ordinance, he said, with much reluctance.
W. Randy Wright voted no, saying the city should have challenged the court ruling.
"Nobody should have to listen to that kind of language," he said. "There should be a ban on profanity. They're saying the courts struck it down. Well, we should challenge that. We should take a stand on this issue."
Harry Minium, (757) 446-2371, harry.minium@pilotonline.com
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It's not rocket science
Events downtown are scheduled and advertised well in advance, so no one whould have a problem determining if they want to bring their kids or not, but I doubt very seriously any "raw edge" group will be allowed at any downtown festival. Life really isn't all that difficult.
Vote with your feet!
Good job, Norfolk. Now you can leave it up to the marketplace of ideas to decide whether people will bring their $$$ to Town Point Park to hear cursing or not. This family will not come to the park when it is known that acts with profanity are on the stage. You will probably make enough $$$ at your festivals without the attendance of those of us who don't like that kind of thing. Cheers, MGM