Middleborough city near Boston will fine people for $20 for cursing in public, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Officials state that the offer is not targeted at censor casual or private conversations, but to calm down loud, profanity-laden language used by teenagers and other young people in the downtown area and public parks.

The step could raise questions about free speech rights, but state law allows cities to enforce local laws that give police the power to arrest anyone who "addresses another person with profane or obscene language" in a public place.