TALLAHASSEE – Florida’s has seen quite a bit of activity lately in terms of the quantity of anti-naturist bills winding their way through the state’s legislature. Morley Schloss, the Naturist Action Committee’s board member representing nudists’ interests in Florida told Nudist Day that 2006 was a quiet year, with only one piece of legislation which was a serious threat to the lifestyle, while the first quarter of 2007 has already seen seven dangerous bills tabled.
Highest on Schloss’s agenda is Senate bill 2544, which seeks to treat a second conviction for “indecent exposure” as a felony. The problem for nudists lies in the bill’s definition of what constitutes indecent exposure, which could include mere nudity. The NAC is now calling upon Florida nudists to begin an intensive writing camping directed at the State Criminal Justice Committee, requesting that the bill’s language be modified where it concerns section 800.03 of the Florida Statute. Note that this bill is the Senate’s equivalent to House bill 41, which has already been passed. Should the Senate approve its version, the state Governor Charlie Crist must give it its final approval before it becomes law.
If that wasn’t enough, several other bills also attempt to strengthen the penalties of the same part of the criminal code, but again do a poor job in defining what constitutes lewdness. All of these bills imply that mere nudity is lewd, this in the state with the largest number of naturists.
Should any of these bills actually become law, the language used would entitle law enforcement to charge people with the infraction, Schloss explained, but not convict them. Thus, naturists could still be harassed and face the costs and obvious degradation of defending themselves. The NAC has a particularly strong ally in this battle, namely the South Florida Free Beaches Association and its professional lobbyist, Ray Maury, Schloss added.
This article was corrected after mr. Schloss found errors.
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