Legally Topless in New York: A True Story

Have you ever dreamed about going around topless? Why do people need to wear a shirt anyway? If you are a male, you can often get away with going around topless, and thousands of males go around topless every summer. If you are a female you probably haven't even considered it due to our society's "unwritten" rules. Or maybe you have considered it, like a young artist in New York did.

Apparently in 1992 a New York state appeals court set a precedent by determining that it is sexist to allow males to walk around without a shirt, but restrict women from doing the same thing. This logic seems to be quite solid, until you realize that if a female were to walk around without a shirt that her breasts would be showing. After all, female's breasts are far more of a sexual organ than a male's breasts.

A young artist by the name of Jill Coccaro also seemed to side with the appeals court. So on August 4, 2005 she decided to go for a stroll around her local New York neighborhood without a shirt or a brassiere. In fact, her upper body was completely naked -- her breasts were exposed for everyone to see. Even a local policeman that was on duty.

This policeman then went to up to the young artist and promptly arrested her for indecent exposure of her breasts. After she was taken into custody she was not provided with clothing to cover up her indecently exposed body. This factor combined with the fact that legal precedent proved that females can in fact walk around topless in New York led to a lengthy lawsuit.

Jill Coccaro was eventually awarded $29,000 for her difficulties. The sum is so large, mainly due to the fact that the police officers did not provide her with clothing, and apparently handled her roughly. This may seem like a happy ending, but it has certainly exposed a number of quirks in the municipality of New York City.

It would most certainly seem to be that police officers do not know the current form of the law. It is quite appalling that the people protecting the public do not know exactly what they are protecting the public against. Moreover, it is somewhat of an irony to consider the fact that Jill was not provided with clothes. This would be akin to someone accused of identity theft going to jail under the name he was accused of stealing.