Apparently, there is no specific Federal Law against nudity, and, so I’ve been told, no state laws either. It seems mostly to be handled at the county and city level.
(Is this in any way correct?)
So, my goofy b.i.l. says, “That means it’s perfectly legal to be naked in a National Park.”
Okay, wait a second… If I took off my clothes at the visitor center at Yellowstone National Park, does anyone imagine I wouldn’t get arrested? Of course I would, and I’d probably get on a sex-offenders list too.
Yellowstone Park is largely in Park County, Wyoming: suppose Park County has an “indecent exposure” law. Would that apply inside the National Park? Or do all county and state laws cease to apply inside National Parks? I can’t believe there’d be no local law or law enforcement. Are there Federal laws against driving faster than the speed limit? What if I drive too fast in a National Park? Covered by Federal Law, or the State Law of the state the park is within? Wouldn’t the Park police just arrest me, and turn me over to the state or county?
I’m hankering to streak at the Tomb of the Unknowns. My goofy b.i.l. thinks it’s legal!
There generally aren’t misdemeanor-level federal laws that apply nation-wide but there is a whole set of them that only apply on National Park and other federally-owned land. For example, obviously there aren’t federal-level traffic laws, but there are specific ones that apply to roads on federally-owned land and you can get a federal speeding ticket in a National Park.
Granted, if that were a state law the courts probably would have long ago made them come up some more specific terms than just “obscene” but unless you feel like fighting through the federal appellate system, I’d probably keep my pants on when the rangers are around.
Actually now that I think about it, this has been an issue in the past. There’s some hot springs in Death Valley that are a bit of a nudist mecca. The NPS service has mostly just looked the other way (the springs are way off the main roads and aren’t on the official maps) but they have at various points cracked down and issued tickets, I assume under the aforementioned disorderly conduct law.
The CFR has traffic regulations for Federal Parks, yes.
Any crime not specifically in the U.S. Code, According to the Assimilative Crimes Act, violated on Federal land, can be punished under that States law.
Ohio has a National Park and a National Forest. One can be charged under Ohio’s PI law on these, if no federal law is right on point, but as GJ pointed out, that DC law could form the basis also, have not read any Annotations on it at the law library though.
Vermont has been in the forefront in recent years for its absence of any statewide nudity laws. The courts (AIUI) have ruled that the WalMart in Burlington can ban any shopper from disrobing in the store, but cannot stop a nude person from coming into the store already stripped.
Given the Vermont developments, I would conclude that every other state has some kind of law that can be interpreted to illegalize public nudity, but Vermont does not.
I believe National Parks have similar powers to private enerprises, to regulae behavior on their premises. As, for example, a shopping mall can regulate speed in the parking lot with envorceable speed limit signs. But the national park service does not give extra-statal sovergnty to parks in the same sense as Indian Reservations do, and all state and county laws still apply. Just trying to think of an example, a state’s age-of-consent law would apply to an incident that occurred in a national park.
Laws against nudity have to be carefully written, too. I remember here in Georgia some city was really hot to ban strip clubs, so passed an ordinance banning nudity. I’m not sure how it was worded, but the state Supreme Court struck down the law on the grounds that under it, people could be arrested for taking showers and changing a baby’s diapers.
State laws apply in national parks, at least in MN they do.
All MN state hunting/fishing regs apply in parks located in the state. Firearm carry laws apply the same as well - can carry a weapon with a permit or as per hunting regs allow.
Also - all burning restrictions set by the MN state DNR apply the same as well.
I would think that a nationally designated park or recreation area does not preempt state law. All it does is add another layer of federal parks laws/rules on top of it.
This all makes sense… Also, “Disorderly Conduct” seems like a catch-all, where, even if there isn’t a specific law against nudity or indecent exposure, they can still arrest and charge you with this. Disturbing the Peace, offensive public behavior, whatever. Law enforcement officers have a fair amount of latitude, and the courts will probably back them up. (Plus you’d have to be darn lucky to find a jury that approved of public nudity…)
I just can’t figure any way that anyone can conclude that nudity is “legal” when it’s guaranteed to get you arrested, and a conviction would not be overturned on constitutional grounds.
jtur88: Fascinating about the Vermont Walmart case! I’m astonished!
(I don’t even know, right now, if I approve or disapprove! It’s too alien to my way of thinking!)
A lot of the land west of the Missouri River in South Dakota is national something or other (Black Hills National Forest, Buffalo Gap National Grassland, Badlands National Monument) and I’m pretty sure the state laws are in effect in those areas. Indian reservations (of which there are nine in SD) are a whole 'nother kettle of fish.
Up until last year, there was a clothing optional beach within the Fire Island National Seashore. I chatted once with a ranger who used to have to patrol the area in the old school woolen trousers in the summer.
But beginning last year, they started to enforce the relevant NY state penal code against public nudity.
AIUI means “as I understand it”. I do not get ALL of my knowledge from the internet, therefore a cite is not available for ALL that I presume to be the state of reality or the condition of the universe. I made a quick google for you, and here’s a primer.
When I lived in South Dakota I became friends with a man and his wife who honeymooned in the badlands-----they camped out there and one fine morning the naked man chased his naked wife down a gully; she climbed out to escape, he climbed after her and they found themselves face to face with a party of tourists. They fled back into the gully.
