A much needed small step in the right direction toward decency.
-Eric
Posted on 03/17/2005 7:24:16 AM PST by freepatriot32
Spring Breakers are not easily offended, but even they will admit some behavior crosses the line. "We saw two people actually having sex in the sand," said Nat Gale from Hartford, Conn. "Their friends were all around them. Everyone was trying not to look but they were looking."
Because nobody complained to authorities, it's questionable whether the couple could have been convicted of committing a lewd and lascivious act. Florida courts have ruled that an unsuspecting member of the public must be offended before somebody can be convicted of the crime.
State Sen. Mike Fasano and State Rep. John Legg, both Republicans from New Port Richey, want to broaden the law by letting law enforcement officers decide whether an act is offensive. Their bill has the support of the Florida Sheriffs' Association.
Some officers complain they have become powerless to enforce prostitution and indecency statutes, especially when they occur in nonpublic places such as strip clubs.
The legislation was motivated by two officers who witnessed a couple have sex at an adult movie theater. A prosecutor dismissed indecency charges against the couple because no one besides the police had complained.
Legg said his bill is intended to clear up "ambiguity in the law."
But James Benjamin, a Broward County defense attorney and member of the First Amendment Lawyers Association, called the bill "blatantly unconstitutional."
"You cannot allow the police to become the arbitrator of morality," Benjamin said.
He said the courts created the higher threshold after police raided a swingers' party. Naked people were having sex, but it was consensual and no money was exchanged. Because it was in a private home, prosecutors could not argue that the rights of the public were being violated.
When Benjamin first raised the objections of free speech and privacy, members of the House Criminal Justice committee said they worried that the bill would enable police to arrest teens for "dirty dancing."
On Wednesday, the Committee passed an amended version that said, "Lewdness is to be determined by what a reasonable member of the public might find substantially offensive."
Luke Lirot, a defense lawyer from Pasco County who represents strip clubs, said the bill is still problematic because moral standards will differ between a "Muslim police officer" and a "police officer who goes to nudist resorts on the weekends, of which there are many."
Opinions also may vary between a husband and wife. Norm and Wanda Gagnon, visiting Daytona Beach from Rollinsford, N.H., strolled Monday into a crowd of frolicking breakers near the Seabreeze Avenue beach ramp.
They agreed that sex on the beach and topless women were indecent, but differed on thongs and sexy swimwear. "Depends who the thong's on," said Norm Gagnon.
"I think it's cheapening" to women, said Wanda Gagnon. But then, she said, "you're asking a man versus a woman."
Daytona Beach Police Sgt. Al Tolley said existing laws have been sufficient for his department to deal with lewd behavior in public places. In the case of the couple having sex on the beach, he said they could have been charged for being in the public view. The law would have a greater impact in places like strip clubs.
"If the law were changed, there might be requests for more police investigations," Tolley said.
Breakers said they don't complain about obscenity because they come to Daytona Beach with certain expectations.
"You want to go somewhere there's a lot of stuff going on," said Bryan Arruda, of Moorestown, N.J. "I wouldn't want to be in, like, Melbourne."
At the pool deck of the Desert Inn, Dequan James, 18, of Pistcataway, N.J., stood with Mardi Gras beads around his neck, preparing to negotiate. His friends stood by with video cameras. Though it was only 3 p.m., many students were drunk and becoming bold. The flashing and favors, James explained, work both ways.
"When the girls have beads they ask you to show your stuff," he said. Asked whether he was nervous that police might take him away for exposing himself, James shrugged. "I don't worry about it. That's the tradition, isn't it?"
jim.haug@news-jrnl.com
virginia.smith@news-jrnl.com
A much needed small step in the right direction toward decency.
-Eric
BTTT.
Nobody is forced to go to a strip club or swinger party. If what goes on in such nonpublic settings isn't your thing, spend your time elsewhere.
Maybe not a perfect comparison, but the idea can be applied to any situation. Take prostitution or drug dealing for example.
Most of them, rather than having been set from the top down, are probably set through evolution...they just evolve, I think.
Again the laws are there for public places. The religious police 
now want to be permitted to control private behavioure in non-public places.
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