What provision is there in the US for prosecuting lewd public behaviour? I’m reading a Guardian story about a man who displayed a lewd poster in his window in the UK. The police asked him to remove it (presumably under the threat of prosecution). Is there provision for this sort of thing in the US, or is it universally protected under the aegis of freedom of speech? Does the fact that the poster was inside a man’s home complicate things? Do you have a universal right to swear and scream in the street in America (is there such a thing as “keeping the peace”, and how far does it stretch)?
Also, how does this pertain to WBC protests? If there is provision for prosecuting those who engage in lewd behaviour, then how does holding up a sign covered in words like “fag” not qualify?
(Yes, I’m aware that it probably depends on jurisdiction.)
Most places you could probably get by with a lewd T-shirt or poster depending on the venue (a rock concert would pass muster more than if you were naughty right in front of a grade school). The predilections of the potential arresting officer(s) would come into play also.
When correctly viewed
Everything is lewd
I could tell you things about Peter Pan
And the Wizard of Oz…there’s a dirty old man!
in the USA in local cases people have been charged with lewdness (or similar) for swearing at a broken toilet ( i recall this was in an apartment building) to being nude in your own home and visible to someone outside (though there was a recent case i recall where it was found to be nonlewd).
Scanton, Pennsylvania. The local police department might as well be run by Michael Scott. :rolleyes:
Since the US has 50 states (plus DC and overseas territorys) there are over 50 different definations of public lewdness which vary widely from state to state. Nudity laws can vary widely. In some states, like California or Vermont, it’s actually legal to be naked in public unless the local city/town has an ordinance against it. So in those states mere nudity would be considered nude, but something like public urination or fornication/masturbation would.
I know there have been several cases where people have been cited for viewing/displaying porn on video players in cars where other people could see it.
Here: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=22946 is an article discussing some Pennsylvania profanity cases, including the woman who was arrested for swearing at her toilet. She got a judgment against the police for $19,000. Courts usually take the position that ordinary profanity is constitutionally protected. Obscenity, which has a specific legal meaning not too far off from “really hard core” is not. Too oversimplify vastly, under the constitution, one has to work at it to get in trouble for words alone. Displays are more complicated, but generally the more sexual, the more courts have been sympathetic to regulation. Yes, there’s a lot of local regulation, but the first amendment (free speech, free press, free association…) has a huge effect on the form of those regulations.