Law Upholds Women's Right To Be Topless In New York: Re: Public Nudity

["Ted Moffett" <ted_moffett@hotmail.com>]

Everyone:

Actually, the laws vary on the issue of female toplessness.  The law in New 
York state was changed in recent years due in part to topless protests 
staged by topless women.  It is legal for women to go topless in New York 
anywhere men may do so following a 1992 ruling by the state court of 
appeals.  This info was posed on vision2020 by Mike Finkbiner on July 19.  I 
also had read about this story years ago.  Here is the link Mike Finkbiner 
posted on vision2020:

http://ithacajournal.com/news/stories/20020719/localregional/254186.html

I do not know the legal reasoning behind this decision, but apparently the 
Moscow Daily News (I resisted the almost overwhelming impulse to call this 
paper the nickname it has earned), expressing the bias on this topless issue 
that I have perceived in its pages, chose to ignore the fact that the courts 
in the second most populous state in the USA ruled to allow females going 
topless, unless I missed something in the Daily News article.

The chances of changing the Moscow ordinance outlawing female toplessness 
via the civil disobedience of women going topless and being arrested seems 
slim to impossible, though the local magistrate, I guess, can chose to not 
enforce a law he deems too vague or unenforceable, which I assume is still a 
possibility with this new ordinance.  Has any female been charged under the 
new ordinance yet?

There are many unreasonable laws and bad court decisions on the books, and 
every day of the week somewhere someone is challenging the existing body of 
law based on THEIR interpretation of the constitution,
about which as we all know there is fantastic disagreement. It really makes 
no difference to me what the courts have said about the female topless issue 
except insofar as it is educational to see what reasoning they used.  I 
firmly believe a women should be able to go topless in public places, though 
reasonable regulations can be applied.
And being a lucky male, I am exempt from arrest on this issue.  But where 
are the women who are going to blame me for inflaming them into an 
adulterous frenzy by the sight of my naked chest that will start screaming 
that we also ban topless men!!  I would like to see a battle in court over 
this one!  With a totally female judiciary ruling on the issue.

Ted

>From: WMSteed@aol.com
>To: kron4155@uidaho.edu, WMSteed@aol.com
>CC: johnguy@moscow.com, vision2020@moscow.com
>Subject: Re: Public Nudity - Our Community
>Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 13:15:46 EDT
>
>
>In a message dated 7/19/02 8:39:57 AM, kron4155@uidaho.edu writes:
>
><< No one has said that the female breast is the same to the male breast.
>We are only saying that this difference doesn't necessitate difference
>treatments in the eyes of the law. >>
>
>But the law apparently does allow it.  Yesterday's (7/18) Moscow Daily News
>FRONT page story mentioned many court decisions which have upheld laws that
>regulate female, but not male, breasts, as constitutional when questioned 
>on
>this point.  It went on to state that courts have rejected the idea that 
>such
>laws violate the equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution or equal
>rights amendments of state constitutions.  It said that most courts have
>rejected the argument saying female breasts are different from male breasts
>because they are generally understood to be "private areas."
>
>Walter Steed




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