Usually, when trying to educate others about the law, throwing in a few case studies is a good idea. So, I bring you the case of Earth Friend Gen vs the city of Ashland, OR.
Earth Friend Gen, aka the Pastie Lady, aka Jennifer Moss, has appeared on the pages of OCC many times, mostly back in 2008-2010 or so when she was making headlines around the west coast. In fact, before she came to Ashland, she caused a stir in Ojai, CA with her topless roller skating around town. Enough people were offended by this to cause some political repercussions, and so she moved north to hopefully greener pastures in Ashland, OR. Ashland, with its liberal reputation and relaxed nudity laws seemed the perfect place that would allow her to continue satisfying those exhibitionist yearnings. So once in town, she often got naked and could be seen roller blading here and there. She also came to Portland occasionally for more of the same. Gen really is a little crazy. She kept trying to call what she was doing art, or freedom of expression, or attaching political motives to it all, but basically it was just exhibitionism, IMHO - plain and simple
But anyway, what happened eventually is well documented from a legal point of view, and was complicated by Oregon state law which permits nudity as a form of freedom of speech or expression. Detailed discussions can be found on line by Googling "Earth Friend Gen", Ashland, ordinance, etc. The ACLU and the Naturist Action Committee (NAC) got involved on Gen's behalf. An example of how well discussed was the issue, go here and read what a NAC board member had to say about Ashland's anti-nudity ordinance and how it changed for the worse in response to Gen and some others:
http://www.ldssdf.org/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1225
So, Gen really put the town on the spot and caused a lot of nitpicking over the exact meaning of the law and where do you draw the line between simple nudity and inappropriate nude activity. NAC members actually helped the Ashland city council change the language of the ordinance which became too broad and restrictive so that it eventually preserved personal liberties. Gen herself didn't get cited or arrested, although in Portland, she was stopped by police on one occasion while roller blading and asked to dress.
Another issue with the new Ashland ordinance came to a head in 2010 when the ACLU got involved and threatened legal action based on the idea that it violated freedom of expression. This, they argued, would cause it to run afoul of Oregon State law. The freedom of expression issue focused in particular on the the idea that it might be legal to get naked if you were protesting something, even if it was outlawed otherwise. Maybe this is why Gen frequently would describe her outings as being "for peace" or "for the environment" or something, i.e. giving them a political motive. And so Ashland city council members wrangled again over the language of the ordinance and wrote in clauses permitting nudity "as a form of protest", thereby making it more defensible when going up against State Law (and the ACLU).
After that, I am not sure what happened. I thought I had read that eventually, the case was taken up by the State courts which struck down the ordinance, but I can't find this on the internet anymore, so I am not sure. IN any case,
the whole issue surrounding nudity as a form of expression here in Oregon is added protection that you don't find in other states. And the "nudity for the sake of protest" issue, preserving rights for, say, WNBR riders protesting oil dependence but not simple nudity for its own sake, has surfaced several times in the state in recent years, in Portland as well as other towns. Portland actually has a nudity ban similar to Ashland's, which is probably why, to soften it somewhat against more liberal State laws, they "clause in" permissible nudity when engaged in protest.
Gen, meanwhile, keeps moving around
I think she may have headed back to California. Despite numerous complaints lodged against her over the years, and despite having caused changes in local laws in more than one city, I don't think she was ever arrested or charged directly with indecent exposure...
Another case study that would be interesting to delve into would be that of the city of Boulder, Co vs the nudes that have driven city officials there crazy over the past ten years. In this case, the legal issues are not about nudity as a form of freedom of expression (protected in Oregon but not in Colorado) but nudity
as a form of disorderly conduct(!), giving police more power to crack down on things like the naked pumpkin run, etc.
Klondike