ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, April 26, 1997               TAG: 9704280013
SECTION: EDITORIAL                PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO 
                                             TYPE: BRIEFLY PUT ...

VIRGINIA'S ARCHAIC "FIGHTING WORDS" STATUTE HAS BEEN SELDOM APPLIED - AND NEVER TO THE RECENTLY RETIRED STATE SONG.

HARD TO believe these existed in the same state:

An official state song - only recently retired - that made reference to black people as "darkey."

A 100-year-old Virginia law, still on the books, that makes the use of "fighting words" a crime.

The "fighting words" law prohibits anyone from using words that potentially can cause another to become abusive or to incite a breach of the peace.

Unfortunately, the law isn't just a moldering curiosity. It's sometimes still used.

Leigh Ferek of Richmond found that out when she was arrested and charged with cussing out her mother-in-law last December. Most folks probably consider it their inalienable right to have a go-round with the in-laws so long as it doesn't involve fists or flying china.

Hard to believe this abridgement of free speech exists in the state that gave us Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and the Bill of Rights.

And who's to say what fighting words are? They're not the same, we suspect, to, say, Sean Penn and Mother Theresa.

Of course, sometimes fighting words are self-evident. Want some examples?

Just dig up a copy of "Carry Me Back to Old Virginia."

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