In the media storm about Janet Jackson's boobygate, Elizabeth Book's March 7th "top-free" protest in Daytona Beach got little coverage in the national media. Back on December 5th, my blog repeated a local newpaper columnist's article about the planned event. Now the same art-beat columnist points out an interesting point of law concerning the reponse of the city police.
Regards,
Rat


SENTINEL COLUMNIST
Mike Lafferty
Breast arrest exposes city's legal hypocrisy

Published March 10, 2004

I may not agree with her message, but I must say this: Free Liz Book!Book is the woman who bared her breasts on a Daytona Beach bridge last weekend to protest the city's nudity law.In the months and weeks leading up to the demonstration Book had framed her actions as a protest against a city law that forces women -- but not men -- to cover their breasts.Regardless of whether you agree with Book, it was plain that her actions amounted to a political protest.What also is plain is that the city law regulating public nudity makes specific allowances for political speech."The offense of public nudity,"the law reads, does not occur if it involves "a bona fide live communication, demonstration, or performance by such person wherein such nudity is expressive conduct incidental to and necessary for the conveyance or communication of a genuine message or public expression, and is not a guise or pretense utilized to exploit nudity for profit or commercial gain."Book, 42, conducted a demonstration that contained a genuine message about her belief in the fundamental unfairness of a law that requires only women to cover their chests. She was not asking anyone to stuff $5 bills into her garter.That mattered not to Daytona Beach police and whoever else might have orchestrated her arrest in advance.News accounts of the march indicate a platoon of cops was poised to slap on the plastic cuffs if Book or her followers showed any forbidden skin.Let me be clear: I do not agree with Book. Daytona Beach degrades itself enough without making it OK for clueless women to flash clueless men, offering a brief moment of sexual gratification and a lingering sense of community debasement.And Book's timing for the march was naive at best. Is there a worse time to demand dignity for the human body than during Bike Week?Freedom, however, is not about agreeing or approving, and Book's arrest made a mockery of the city provision that is supposed to protect free speech.It also should send a chilling message to Daytona Beach's arts community. If legitimate political speech is vulnerable, beware what might happen if a breast is exposed in the course of legitimate artistic speech.My call to free Book is a rhetorical one. She is not in jail but remains shackled by the threat of a $253 fine and a record of the arrest.Which should leave the rest of us feeling a little less free.I hope a judge throws the charge against Book out of court and far out to sea.Parting thoughts
Did you see the photo of the big, shirtless, flabby-chested guy holding a sign that read, "If I can go topless, why can't she?"That photo might be used as evidence for why the city's nudity ordinance should include men.