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U.S. NEWSFriday 2 February 2018

Topless beachgoers: Ban is
unconstitutional, discriminatory

By MICHAEL CASEY gued no state laws forbids — not requiring women to In this June 2, 2016 file photo Heidi Lilley speaks about her arrest
Associated Press toplessness and told the wear shirts.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A court his clients should have She also questioned the the previous week for going topless at Weirs Beach in Laconia,
city law in New Hampshire the same rights as men to First Amendment argu-
that bans women from go topless. He also argued ment, saying “there was no N.H.
showing their nipples is un- they simply were express- way anyone in the public
constitutional and discrimi- ing their First Amendment could have known they Associated Press
natory, a lawyer for three rights, since the women’s were protesting.”
women accused of violat- actions were a protest “This is a matter of public On the other side, Justice beach.
ing it told the state’s high- linked to the Free Nipple safety and morals,” McGin-
est court Thursday. movement. It is a global nis told the court. “What Robert Lynn queried Hynes The judges also seemed to
Heidi Lilley, Kia Sinclair and campaign advocating for happened here shows that
Ginger Pierro were arrested the rights of women to go it is safety-related. There over the merits of dismiss- be contemplating ways in
in 2016 after taking off their topless. was a really big distur-
tops at a beach in Laconia “In this case, the city of bance on the beach when ing the law, hinting that go- which the ordinance could
and refusing to put them Laconia has criminal- (Pierro) was doing yoga on
back on when beachgo- ized being female. That’s the beach.” ing topless was more of a be amended so that it was
ers complained. Pierro was what it comes down to,” Judges had tough ques-
doing yoga, while the other Hynes told the court. “I’m tions for both sides in a lifestyle choice rather than deemed constitutional —
two were sunbathing. not aware of any criminal wide-ranging discussion
The Laconia law on inde- statute in New Hampshire that touched on nude something more serious. including setting aside a
cent exposure bans sex where an element of the beaches in the state and
and nudity in public but offense is that the state whether the ban on bare “What’s the disadvantage stretch of beach for top-
singles out women by pro- must prove the defendant bottoms would impact
hibiting the “showing of fe- is a certain sex. I suggest thong-wearing bathers. here?” Lynn asked, sug- less women or striking the
male breast with less than that is unconstitutional and, They also discussed wheth-
a fully opaque covering of really, immoral.” er allowing topless women gesting they would not be word women from section
any part of the nipple.” In defending the law, the would lead to increased
A lower court judge refused Assistant Attorney General sexual harassment and harmed by simply covering of the ordinance involving
to dismiss the case, and the Susan McGinnis told the crimes against women —
women appealed to the court the city was trying as the state contends. their nipples while at the toplessness.q
state Supreme Court. Oral to avoid a public distur- Justice James Bassett
arguments were heard bance resulting from bare- seemed to question wheth-
Thursday but none of the breasted women on the er the 1998 statute was
women was in the court- beach and that it narrowly outdated, noting that laws
room. tailored the law to requiring once restricted what men
Their lawyer, Dan Hynes, ar- only the covering of nipples could wear on the beach.

Girl in Slender Man stabbing gets maximum mental commitment

Morgan Geyser, 15, appears for sentencing before Waukesha protection.” “I just want to let Bella and fictional online horror char-
Judge Michael Bohren her family know that I’m acter who they said they
County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018 in granted the maximum sorry,” she said, using a feared would otherwise
penalty that prosecutors nickname for Leutner. “And harm them and their fami-
Waukesha, Wis. had sought and discount- I hope she’s doing well.” lies. Slender Man is often
ed Morgan Geyser’s youth Geyser and another girl, typified by spidery limbs
Associated Press — she was just 12 — at the Anissa Weier, admitted and a blank white face.
time of the attack in 2014. that they lured Leutner Weier was sentenced to 25
By IVAN MORENO character Slender Man will “What we can’t forget is into some woods near a years in a mental hospital in
this was an attempted mur- suburban Milwaukee park. December.
Associated Press be committed to a men- der,” Bohren said. Earlier, Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 She pleaded guilty in Au-
he heard from four doc- times while Weier urged her gust to being a party to at-
WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — A tal hospital for 40 years, a tors who talked about how on, according to investiga- tempted second-degree
Geyser is making prog- tors. They left Leutner for intentional homicide, but
Wisconsin girl who stabbed judge ordered Thursday, ress with her mental illness, dead but she crawled out she claimed she wasn’t
to various degrees. But of the woods and got help responsible for her actions
a classmate to curry favor explaining his decision as Bohren called the teenag- from a passing bicyclist. All because she was mental-
er “a fragile person” whose three girls were 12 at the ly ill. In September, a jury
with the fictional horror “an issue of community long history suffering from time. agreed.
delusions make her a risk to “Really judge, it’s a miracle At Geyser’s sentencing
hurt herself and others. that Peyton is still with us, Thursday, doctors who
Geyser, now 15, spoke that she survived this,” said evaluated her gave con-
briefly before she was sen- prosecutor Ted Szczupaki- flicting opinions about the
tenced, breaking down in ewicz. type of institutional care
tears as she apologized to Geyser and Weier said they she needs and the severity
the girl she stabbed, Pay- carried out the attack to of her continued hallucina-
ton Leutner. appease Slender Man, a tions. q