City Responds to Woman Making a Federal Case Over Her Bare Breasts

To see or not to see, that is the question. Bare breasts, that is, in the city of Chicago.

The city moved this week to dismiss a federal lawsuit filed last fall on behalf of a woman ticketed in August for going topless on a Chicago beach. She was fined $100 for indecent exposure. At issue is Chicago’s Indecent Exposure or Dress Ordinance, which the plaintiff, Sonoko Tagami, claims is too vague, unconstitutional and unjustly targets women.

Tagami, 41, was cited during an August GoTopless demonstration in favor of women’s right to go bare-chested in public just as men can. She was clad in a purple skirt, and her breasts were covered with an opaque body paint. Sonoko went topless at prior demonstrations in Chicago without incident.

When she went to court in October, the judge found Tagami guilty but encouraged her to take the matter to a higher court.

» Watch Chicago Police ticket a bare-chested Sonoko Tagami on YouTube

“When presented with Exhibit A, two pictures of Sonoko’s chest, (the judge) immediately recognized the civil rights issue involved. One picture showed Sonoko’s chest with her nipples covered by opaque paint. It was taken the day police issued the citation at North Lake Shore Beach on GoTopless Day, August 24,” GoTopless spokesperson Nadine Gary said on the organization’s website. “After looking at it, the judge said she found the municipal law’s reference to ‘opacity’ to be vague, and that if the paint Sonoko used were to cover a book or newspaper page, you wouldn’t be able to see the print.

“She explained that by finding her liable, Sonoko could take this matter up to a higher court and argue the constitutionality of the ordinance and municipal code,” Gary explained. “She said she would indeed find her liable because she thought Sonoko should take it further. In fact, she said the municipal law’s vague reference to opacity [regarding the covering of women’s nipples in public] is a very interesting question.”

Her lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in November.

The city argues nudity is not protected free speech.

The city must protect “unwilling audiences from exposure to nudity, which, consistent with current community standards, includes the exposure of female breasts,” city lawyers wrote in a response to the lawsuit.

» more via the Chicago Tribune

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