Is nudity a crime?

[Brian Ellis]

Apparently not in England and Wales. Link

• It's not an offence to be naked in public in England and Wales
• Becomes offence if it can be proved the person stripped off with the intention to upset and shock
• Complainant has to prove this

And in which states of the USA is it automatically a) a misdemeanour or b) a felony? (other than the state of nakedness, of course )

[Dr Mordrid]

In the US it's a local or state issue because of the way our legal system is set up.

In almost all US states breast nudity for the purpose of feeding a child is protected.

In many states nudity is allowed in dedicated facilities; certain beaches, nudist camps or clothing optional apartment or other residential areas that are walled so the goings on are not visible from outside. This would extend to private property if the area was not visible to outsiders; neighbors etc.

On the other hand there are some municipalities that have no nudity law and it's a wide open game.

When we were kids down on the farm skinny dipping in irrigation ponds - usually in the back 40 (acres) adjacent to woods - wasn't unusual at all, even in mixed company, and hadn't been for generations. Odds were that you had seen your first date naked many times before, and even recently. Lots of Swedes, Finns, Norwegians, Germans, Poles, Danes and other northern Europeans.

So much for stereotype of "prudish conservative church goers" in "flyover country"

[TransformX]

Is nudity a crime?

Only if you're ugly.

[Fat Tone]

Only if you're ugly.

I just won my bet

[Elie]

Is nudity a crime?

Only if it's not a cute and sexy female!!

[VJ]

I just won my bet

I just lost my reply

[Dr Mordrid]

Link....

LAND O' LAKES, Fla., Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Residents of the clothing-optional Caliente Resorts in Land O' Lakes, Fla., said they are lobbying to create the first clothing-optional U.S. polling place.

Caliente spokeswoman Angye Fox said the resort wants to make it easier for the nudist community to vote, by establishing a polling place within the clothing-optional area so residents will no longer have to visit a nearby subdivision, which requires clothing, to cast their ballots, the Tampa (Fla.) Tribune reported Friday.

Resort administrators said they discussed the prospect with Brian Corley, Pasco County's supervisor of elections, but the official said he does not plan to "even consider" opening additional polling places until after the scheduled 2010 redistricting.

Jennifer Davis, a spokeswoman for the Florida Secretary of State's Office, said a nude polling place would not violate any state laws.

"That would be up to the local supervisor," she said.

[Brian Ellis]

The original link was not about nudist colonies but about naked people in public places. Apparently, in England and Wales, you can go shopping or for a walk in the park in the altogether, provided that there was no provable intention to shock.

In Germany, it is quite common to go hiking as nature intended: this has spread to parts of Switzerland but has been forbidden by some of the more prudish conservative cantons. Link. I can hardly imagine this happening along the Appalachian Trail!