1887 law could send man to jail

"A Winona man could go to jail for 90 days after he was cited Wednesday for violating an obscure 1887 city code prohibiting cursing in public."

He should consider himself lucky. The law was amended in 1887. Prior to that the punishment was stoning to death because Winona had no jail.

Frankly, I'm pretty impressed that they have one now.

Back then it worked exactly like that scene in Life of Brian, where the guy reading the charges also got stoned. "And the accused uttered, within the fortnight past, such taboo shibboleths as 'fuck' ... (stone hits him) ... hey, stop that shit ... (more stones)."

Best line in the article, "Assistant City Attorney Brian Glodosky commended police for so thoroughly knowing the city code." That guy should get recruited by the state department for international diplomacy. Disguising his contempt with a compliment is probably the subtlest possible way he could have said, "Man, these cops are real assholes."