Current Status of The Law
In England and Wales, the only part of the United Kingdom where the law had any effect, no prosecutions of common scolds have occurred for a considerable period. Counsel in Sykes v. Director of Public Prosecutions AC 528 described the offence as "obsolete", and section 13(1)(a) of the Criminal Law Act 1967 eventually abolished it.
The offence of being a common scold has become obsolete in the state of New Jersey because only women could commit it, contrary to current interpretations of the Equal Protection Clause. In the United States many states have laws restricting public profanity, excessive noise, and disorderly conduct. None of these laws carry the distinctive punishment reserved for the common scold.
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