The Supreme Court has said that profanity is protected by the First Amendment. Merely using certain words may not be prosecuted as a crime.



Virginia courts have said that the "curse and abuse" statute may only be applied to "fighting words," that is, words that tend to provoke a violent response in a face-to-face confrontation. It is difficult to imagine how a telephone call could ever meet this definition, since it doesn't involve face-to-face contact.



It's not clear that this telephone call rises to the level of "harassment" or "intimidation." "Harassment" usually implies repeated conduct, not a single telephone call. And I don't see anything to suggest that this speech was intended to put anyone in fear. It seems to be intended to disturb, offend and annoy, but none of that is illegal.



Public officials should expect that they will sometimes be the targets of extremely unpleasant speech, and should be cautious about subjecting people to prosecution for such speech in the absence of genuine harassment or threats.