Appeals Court Upholds Woman's Right To Protest While Topless

POSTED: 4:59 pm EDT October 12, 2006

UPDATED: 5:33 pm EDT October 12, 2006

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A woman, who was arrested when she exposed her breasts to protest laws that bar women from publicly going bare breasted, can demonstrate topless as part of a legitimate political protest, an appeals court has ruled.

The Seventh Judicial Circuit Court of Appeals on Oct. 5 upheld a Volusia County judge's opinion that Elizabeth Book could protest while topless on the city's Main Street Bridge.

Book, of Ormond Beach, was arrested by Daytona Beach police and fined $253 during Bike Week in March 2004. The city said she violated an ordinance banning public nudity that was passed in 2002 to curb indecency at special events.

Book's attorney, Lawrence G. Walters, said the latest ruling is a victory for his client, who set out to test laws against nudity because she believes they are unfairly applied to women. Deputy City Attorney Marie Hartman said the city "respectfully disagrees with the opinion." Hartman said the city is looking into an appeal to the Fifth District Court of Appeal.

Book also faces charges in a separate case, where she was arrested for appearing topless in front of topless Grecian statues near a city auditorium in July 2005. She has been charged with disorderly conduct in connection with the incident.

Previous Stories:

March 21, 2005: Women Arrested In Protest For Equal Male-Female Topless Rights
March 7, 2004: Lawyer: Women's Topless Protest Will Go On
October 28, 2003: Women Go Public With Topless Equality Fight

Police in Daytona Beach arrested five topless women Sunday during a protest over the city's anti-nudity law, according to Local 6 News.

The women, who claimed the city's law was unconstitutional removed their shirts and were arrested.

Liz Book who staged a similar protest last year, was videotaped on a stage taking off her shirt. Then, several women showed up during the protest and took their shirts off.

The women were handcuffed by police officers and led away from the protest.

Daytona Beach and Book apparently had an agreement to have a topless protest in the city but the event had to be on a covered platform away from traffic and the general public, Local 6 News reported.

The city said the supporters were supposed to stay by the covered state area to avoid arrest, according to the report.

"They started making flagrant and blatant attempts to draw attention to their cause and that exceeded the purview of our agreement, "Daytona Beach police spokesman Brian Skipper said. "These supporters were not part of the original understanding"

Book claims the city said there would not be any arrests at this year's protest.

"They just made the biggest mistake they could have ever made in violating this agreement and our constitutional rights," Book said.

Book said she will continue the fight against Daytona's anti-nudity law.

"Daytona, who do they think they are to supercede the Constitution of the United States," Book said. "Big brother needs to leave his little sisters alone.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A woman, who was arrested when she exposed her breasts to protest laws that bar women from publicly going bare breasted, can demonstrate topless as part of a legitimate political protest, an appeals court has ruled.

Am I the only one who notices the ironic stupidity of this statement?

Not to mention the ruling?

There have been other posters who have pointed it out, with varying degrees of sarcasm :-) Most of us are stunned by the idiocy and general wrongfulness of it all. Particularly after the Massachusetts Supreme Court made an international laughingstock of itself (and the rest of us, by default) it astonishes me that an appeals court would be so eager to stand up on top of the mountain and shout as loud as they can "We are complete idiots who are entirely politically motivated and don't understand Law or the Constitution at all!"

Hopefully the ruling will be quickly overturned so as to save the good people of Florida any unnecessary embarrassment.

LMAO

hehe!

Hopefully this idiocy has been overturned by now; I haven't heard any updates about it (and I also haven't heard of any new Topless Protesting events, thank goodness).

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