# Laws Against Nudity **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2014, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-nudity/704217 "2014-11-10T04:54:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-nudity/704217/41 "2014-11-13T21:53:48Z")
> [@WreckingCrew](#): > > Just to add to this a bit, many National Parks (as well as those sites run by lesser agencies) have Law Enforcement rangers. LE rangers are commissioned federal law enforcement officers, and they are there to enforce Federal, State, and local laws in the park as well as any general park regulations. . . . In those cases, not only state laws, but county and even municipal laws could “leak” into Federally administrated land? This seems directly to address my question. If the encompassing county has indecent-exposure laws, those laws extend into Federal land? > [@](#): > > Finally non-LE National Park rangers, such as yours truly, have no powers of arrest. So if I were to find nudists afoot my choices would be to A: berate them sternly or B: call in the proper authorities. But…exposure is still illegal? You could send for that kind of backup, even if you don’t absolutely have to? I’m willing to accept that it might vary from place to place; my beef (my OP) was just questioning the claim that “there are no federal or state laws against nudity,” and therefore “you can go naked in a National Park and it’s totally legal.” I’m fascinated by how the laws extend into the National Parks! This thread is a wonderful education for me in the matter of jurisdictions! Thank you, and thank you all! ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-nudity/704217/42 "2014-11-14T03:10:03Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > But…exposure is still illegal? You could send for that kind of backup, even if you don’t absolutely have to? > ! Just to totally screw up the conversation, I work for the National Park Service, but at my main place of employment the federal government doesn’t own anything, not even the building I work in. When I am at the unit in Providence, if there were nudist out on the grounds, yup I would call the Providence PD. Mind you, this is 4.5 acres in the middle of the city, so the Providence Police might well notice before I do. But to answer your question in a more formal manner, here is something from another park’s jurisdictional compendium that should clear things up "Exclusive jurisdiction allows the NPS to enforce Federal criminal statues and also to assimilate State law under Title 18 U.S.C. 13, when no applicable Federal law or regulation exists. " The whole thing is about six pages, and gets into great detail about how laws are enforced at Fort Sumter. [http://www.nps.gov/fosu/parkmgmt/upload/jurisdictional\_compendium.pdf](http://www.nps.gov/fosu/parkmgmt/upload/jurisdictional_compendium.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-nudity/704217/43 "2014-11-14T03:17:59Z")
Don’t do it in [Chicago.](http://wgntv.com/2014/11/12/woman-goes-topless-gets-ticket-now-suing-city-of-chicago/) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-nudity/704217/44 "2014-11-14T05:39:15Z")
> [@WreckingCrew](#): > > Just to totally screw up the conversation, I work for the National Park Service, but at my main place of employment the federal government doesn’t own anything, not even the building I work in. When I am at the unit in Providence, if there were nudist out on the grounds, yup I would call the Providence PD. Mind you, this is 4.5 acres in the middle of the city, so the Providence Police might well notice before I do. > > But to answer your question in a more formal manner, here is something from another park’s jurisdictional compendium that should clear things up > > "Exclusive jurisdiction allows the NPS to enforce Federal criminal statues and also to assimilate State law under Title 18 U.S.C. 13, when no applicable Federal law or regulation exists. " > > The whole thing is about six pages, and gets into great detail about how laws are enforced at Fort Sumter. > > [http://www.nps.gov/fosu/parkmgmt/upload/jurisdictional\_compendium.pdf](http://www.nps.gov/fosu/parkmgmt/upload/jurisdictional_compendium.pdf) Thank you! For a legal document, that was actually quite readable for the interested layman. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-nudity/704217/45 "2014-11-14T17:29:40Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I’m not completely clear what you’re saying here… What is “desuetude?” The dictionary only says “disuse.” Help me out a little… Sorry I meant to quote Duckster at post 20, he said state laws do not apply on federal lands, and I cited this from that CFR link; (bb)Possessing a beverage which is defined as an alcoholic beverage by State law. I only meant if the CFR is outdated, which it is not, (bb) must be desuetude, non enforceable, (bb) has IMPLIEDLY repealed itself, which it has not, just making a comparison since it is still written in the CFR. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-nudity/704217.md?page=2)