Stephanie
Diamond Member
- Jul 11, 2004
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I can't type anything in response to this because :rotflmao:
War protesters sue for right to bare breasts
A hearing is set over CHP warning that nudity at a Capitol rally will lead to arrests.
By Denny Walsh -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Friday, November 4, 2005
Story appeared in Metro section, Page B3 sacbee.com
Mendocino County women who have been baring their breasts at various venues to protest the war in Iraq are in Sacramento federal court seeking an order prohibiting the California Highway Patrol from arresting them during a planned noon demonstration Monday at the Capitol.
The women's group, Breasts Not Bombs, is suing CHP Commissioner Mike Brown and two of his officers over a warning that if the women demonstrate while topless, they will be arrested and charged with indecent exposure and disorderly conduct.
The group claims it also was warned by the CHP that if its members are convicted of indecent exposure they may have to register as sex offenders.
It also claims the CHP said its admonition did not apply to male members of the group, who are free to go topless during the demonstration.
A court declaration of Sherry Glaser, a member of the group and its spokeswoman, says the planned political protest "focuses primarily, though not exclusively, on various initiatives (on Tuesday's ballot) we oppose that Governor Schwarzenegger supports."
"The organization recognizes that women's breasts are a powerful tool and carry with them significant social, political and cultural content," Glaser's declaration says. "Clearly, the use of a woman's breasts to promote political causes is efficient and worthy of protection.
"Neither I nor my fellow Breasts Not Bombs members wish to be arrested, nor do we relish the prospect of having to register as sex offenders. Clearly, we are political protesters, not sex fiends," her declaration says.
The group has taken its topless anti-war message to a handful of Mendocino County sites, Union Square in San Francisco, a Washington, D.C., rally, and outside the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat newspaper.
There were no arrests at those protests.
The group's San Francisco attorney, Matthew Kumin, claims in the lawsuit that arresting his clients would deprive them of their constitutional rights to free expression and equal protection under the law.
"The threatened action will also negatively impact members of the public, who will be deprived of the free exchange of ideas and concepts around the initiatives and the Iraq war," Kumin wrote.
U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. is scheduled to hear arguments today on Kumin's motion for a temporary restraining order precluding arrests of Breasts Not Bombs members.
The group's practice "consists in the main of linking political protest with toplessness by its female members," the attorney said in the motion. "Absent that element, the organization's effectiveness, its philosophy and its strategies are completely compromised."
In a letter to the CHP last week, Kumin proposed that the protest area "be surrounded by a bolt of cloth, so that those who want to watch the protest can do so easily, and those who merely walk by would not see the nude protest."
The attorney also said his clients are willing to post signs explaining what is going on, thus giving people an opportunity to make an informed decision whether to watch.
Glaser's declaration says, "There are numerous reasons our expressive protests include toplessness.
"For one thing, (it) is meant to convey the hypocrisy of the government and its claims of decency.
"The organization certainly uses irony - what many believe is shameful and immoral to this group is wholesome, decent and beautiful.
"The organization's members also mean to contrast their view of their breasts as natural and decent with what they view as the indecent initiatives that Gov. Schwarzenegger has proposed for this special election, and the obscenity of an illegal war in Iraq waged by the federal government.
"The initiatives aim, for example, to restrict abortion rights and to restrict the use of union members' dues," the declaration says.
"These proposed policies violate my principles and the principles of people such as the other Breasts Not Bombs members, who consider themselves progressives."
I suppose next we're going to see the anti war protesting men.....oh forget it, that thought just played out in my head and it wasn't pretty.....
War protesters sue for right to bare breasts
A hearing is set over CHP warning that nudity at a Capitol rally will lead to arrests.
By Denny Walsh -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Friday, November 4, 2005
Story appeared in Metro section, Page B3 sacbee.com
Mendocino County women who have been baring their breasts at various venues to protest the war in Iraq are in Sacramento federal court seeking an order prohibiting the California Highway Patrol from arresting them during a planned noon demonstration Monday at the Capitol.
The women's group, Breasts Not Bombs, is suing CHP Commissioner Mike Brown and two of his officers over a warning that if the women demonstrate while topless, they will be arrested and charged with indecent exposure and disorderly conduct.
The group claims it also was warned by the CHP that if its members are convicted of indecent exposure they may have to register as sex offenders.
It also claims the CHP said its admonition did not apply to male members of the group, who are free to go topless during the demonstration.
A court declaration of Sherry Glaser, a member of the group and its spokeswoman, says the planned political protest "focuses primarily, though not exclusively, on various initiatives (on Tuesday's ballot) we oppose that Governor Schwarzenegger supports."
"The organization recognizes that women's breasts are a powerful tool and carry with them significant social, political and cultural content," Glaser's declaration says. "Clearly, the use of a woman's breasts to promote political causes is efficient and worthy of protection.
"Neither I nor my fellow Breasts Not Bombs members wish to be arrested, nor do we relish the prospect of having to register as sex offenders. Clearly, we are political protesters, not sex fiends," her declaration says.
The group has taken its topless anti-war message to a handful of Mendocino County sites, Union Square in San Francisco, a Washington, D.C., rally, and outside the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat newspaper.
There were no arrests at those protests.
The group's San Francisco attorney, Matthew Kumin, claims in the lawsuit that arresting his clients would deprive them of their constitutional rights to free expression and equal protection under the law.
"The threatened action will also negatively impact members of the public, who will be deprived of the free exchange of ideas and concepts around the initiatives and the Iraq war," Kumin wrote.
U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. is scheduled to hear arguments today on Kumin's motion for a temporary restraining order precluding arrests of Breasts Not Bombs members.
The group's practice "consists in the main of linking political protest with toplessness by its female members," the attorney said in the motion. "Absent that element, the organization's effectiveness, its philosophy and its strategies are completely compromised."
In a letter to the CHP last week, Kumin proposed that the protest area "be surrounded by a bolt of cloth, so that those who want to watch the protest can do so easily, and those who merely walk by would not see the nude protest."
The attorney also said his clients are willing to post signs explaining what is going on, thus giving people an opportunity to make an informed decision whether to watch.
Glaser's declaration says, "There are numerous reasons our expressive protests include toplessness.
"For one thing, (it) is meant to convey the hypocrisy of the government and its claims of decency.
"The organization certainly uses irony - what many believe is shameful and immoral to this group is wholesome, decent and beautiful.
"The organization's members also mean to contrast their view of their breasts as natural and decent with what they view as the indecent initiatives that Gov. Schwarzenegger has proposed for this special election, and the obscenity of an illegal war in Iraq waged by the federal government.
"The initiatives aim, for example, to restrict abortion rights and to restrict the use of union members' dues," the declaration says.
"These proposed policies violate my principles and the principles of people such as the other Breasts Not Bombs members, who consider themselves progressives."
I suppose next we're going to see the anti war protesting men.....oh forget it, that thought just played out in my head and it wasn't pretty.....
, the Commissioner is thus forced to protect the public health.
They'll have to be picking them up off the ground..... :shocked:
