OK, shifting now to a topic that may be of more immediate interest to members, exactly what is the legal framework that allows one to go naked on a beach or at a public nudity event like Bare to Breakers, OCF, Fremont, etc.
This link is a great place to start. Click on "nudity and the law".
http://www.nakedplaces.net/usa_0.html#law
I will quote the first paragraph of this, as in part it expands on what I wrote above, affirming much of it. This is written with specific reference to nude beaches:
"
The legality of nude beaches in the U.S. is convoluted, and part of the difficulty lies in deciphering what laws apply to what places. There is no federal law that addresses nudity. Summaries of the various state laws can be viewed at NudistLaw.com. Most state laws regarding nudity address nakedness in the context of lewd behavior and do not directly address the issue of nude sunbathing on public lands. These laws are usually written in language that clearly outlaws displays of nudity that are intended to shock or offend, but wording like willfully, with intent and with reckless disregard makes the question of non-affrontive nudity subject to interpretation. So if Person A is sunbathing naked at a sufficiently isolated location and Person B wanders by and is irked by the sight of nudity, Person B can claim offense but Person A can claim that his or her nudity was not intended to offend, which starts a debate about whether nudity is illegal when it causes offense or only when it is intended to cause offense. Furthermore, smaller administrative entities like county or municipal governments often have laws that more definitively ban all nudity in public, regardless of whether or not lewd intent is involved, effectively closing any loopholes that exist in state laws."
There is a wealth of information there (My emphasis added). Key points include areas where interpretation is difficult, like when words like "willfully, with intent and with reckless disregard" are used. I alluded to this in my earlier post, and wondered how this should be interpreted. Also, there is the situation where a passerby is offended, but the intent of the naked one was
not to offend. And finally, there is the mention of more restrictive local laws which may conflict with state laws.
but so where we stand with nude beaches and events with nudity - I guess maybe I could start with beaches since the link talks mainly about that. To reiterate the above, the legality of nude beaches is convoluted because it is dependent on state, county and local laws which vary quite a bit and are subject to interpretation. Just as an aside here, you should be aware by now that clearly, the vast majority of state laws regarding indecent exposure were passed a long time ago, before there were nude beaches, and mainly to address things like guys flashing their dick for old ladies and little girls, etc. you know, that type of stuff. So they don't really address simple nudity as people really didn't do that sort of thing much in the past - the nudist attitude and lifestyle prevalent today didn't really exist until maybe mid 20th century. And so since separate laws addressing more specifically the nudist credo and lifestyle, "nude but not lewd" etc, do not exist, naturism as a practice is not addressed and so one must do the best they can interpreting older indecent exposure laws and applying them to nudists.
OK, so then along came the nude beach, and with it, challenges to existing state and local laws intended to address mainly more lewd types of behavior. And so began the concept of "simple nudity" and whether or not the law allows for that. In most states and perhaps in limited circumstances, it does, but again, interpretation can be difficult. And now I'll get more specific and talk about the different types of nude beaches from a legal point of view.
First up, there are the legal nude beaches. Now if you read more at nakedplaces.net, you will find that relatively few nude beaches in the US are "legally designated" nude beaches. Sometimes called simply "legal nude beaches" or maybe "official nude or CO beaches", a "legally designated" nude beach refers to one in which a local government or entity has specifically written in a provision or clause permitting nudity at that location. You cannot be cited or harassed. Some examples of "legally designated" nude beaches include Hippie Hollow, and I think Haulover.
From there, you go to a beach like Blacks Beach, for example, in California, where nudity is assumed by many to be legal but in reality, it only was officially designated as such for a three year period way back in the seventies. That official designation was rescinded in 1977, whereupon the nudes moved to adjacent state park land. The State Park regs continue to allow for nudity as long as no one complains.
The situation at Blacks is echoed on a lot of other beaches that are located on federal or state recreation lands, but the exact nature of the legal issue varies. There is no universal anti-nudity law that applies to all federal lands, but in some cases, local county laws, which may be stricter, may be enacted and, if enforced by federal officials, cause a beach to be shut down. When federal officials (i.e. park rangers) enforce local laws, this is referred to as "concurrent law enforcement". Also, many nude beaches are located on national seashores, which is federal land. Generally, because there is no federal anti-nudity law, this is OK. But in some cases, specific provisions may ban nudity, like with the Cape Cod National Seashore. Interestingly, on the only two known nude beaches there, the cops look the other way anyway
Then when you are talking about state parks, it varies again as each state is different. I'll leave that out for now as I don't have a good handle on that yet.
Finally, what if you are simply nude in a very remote area, all by yourself. Often this is going to be on federal land of some type. Now here, if anyone sees you and complains, that is where the problem lies. Obviously, if you are not seen, how can anything bad happen to you
But if you are seen, even if no nudity law exists, you could be charged with something like disturbing the peace.
Anyway, so thats a quick look at beaches, but I've probably only just scratched the surface. As i keep saying, my knowledge is evolving..
Klondike