The State Supreme Court Weighs in on Toplessness

Transcript

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HOST: You're listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a daily newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota.

ANCHOR: In today's segment: why new immigrants to Minnesota now have a shorter time-frame to get settled, the state supreme court weighs in on toplessness, and Bemidji's Fire Chief receives a prestigious award.

I'm Gracie J.

New refugees arriving in Minnesota will now only receive four rather than 12 months of support from the state. That change took effect last month. Those who arrived prior to May 5th will not be affected. The Minnesota Department of Human Services reduced the eligibility window to align with federal changes made by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. While the U.S. refugee program is still suspended indefinitely, Minnesota is projected to resettle more than 4-thousand people this year.

Next, The Minnesota Supreme Court recently ruled in a case that establishes what is considered indecent exposure regardless of gender. Jose Ozoria explains what this means for the citizens of our state.

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"Uh, just a reminder to counsel that you'll each have three minutes of uninterrupted time…"

Jose Ozoria: Minnesota Supreme Court recently issued a ruling impacting how the law and indecent exposure is interpreted. This begins in 2021 when the Rochester Police Department arrested a woman who reportedly had been walking around a gas station topless. She was tried and convicted of willfully and lewdly exposing herself.

Alicia Granse: There are c ases that we want to have a voice in, or we want to be the voice of the people of Minnesota and their constitutional rights. And this is a good issue. This is something that's important and we want to get involved in that is what happened with this case.

Jose Ozoria: Alicia Granse is an attorney with the A merican Civil Liberties Union in Minnesota. She and the ACLU team in Minnesota were tracking this case and filed a document called an amicus brief, a written opinion on how the ruling would have broader ramifications for the public.

Alicia Granse: And then occasionally, someone like the ACLU or another organization or a group of law professors sometimes will file these amicus briefs, and that's what we did, and that's just you're not actually involved in the case itself. You're just providing extra perspective.

Jose Ozoria: The amicus brief filed by the Minnesota ACLU stated that "upholding the lower court rulings would be a violation of equal protection under the law, creating a situation where you're treating people differently based on outdated ideas about gender and sexuality." In his oral argument before the Supreme Court on October 8, 2024, the lawyer for the appellant echoed the sentiment.

Lawyer for the Appellant in the case: In recognizing that the statute as written prohibits exposures that include the genitals, would allow the law to be easily applied equally to all Minnesotans, regardless of their gender or gender identity.

Jose Ozoria: Ultimately, the Supreme Court of Minnesota ruled that the act of a woman exposing her bare breasts in public on its own does not qualify as lewd. This opposed earlier rulings by the lower courts. In the ruling Justice Karl Procaccini said that to "lewdly expose oneself, a person must be engaged in conduct of a sexual nature."

KatGetsMoney: cover local news stories, and I thought that this was particularly interesting and would be interesting to my audience. So that's that's why I covered it.

Jose Ozoria: KatGetsMoney Is a Minnesota-based business owner and TikTok personality who immediately took to the platform following the ruling to inform her audience on what this ruling means to the general public.

KatGetsMoney: I don't think it's the government's role to be legislating this specific thing for certain types of bodies. And so I think the Supreme Court ruling, kind of establishes a little bit more, I guess autonomy.

Jose Ozoria: The court's definition of lewd in this ruling partially supports this autonomy. Alicia Granse with Minnesota's ACLU.

Alicia Granse: It does give us some better understanding about what lewd means. Lewd doesn't mean any exposure of the female breast, no matter what.

Jose Ozoria: Alicia says that while the court's ruling is a positive step forward, the Supreme Court could have gone further with its definition.

Alicia Granse: The court could have gone fully to define, you know, what body means, and could have more clearly defined what private parts means.

Jose Ozoria: For North Star Stories, I’m Jose Ozoria.

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ANCHOR: You are listening to North Star Stories.

The Bemidji Fire Chief Justin Sherwood is the first recipient of the Northwest Technical College's IMPACT Award. Sherwood has been the chief for the past 4 years but began his career in fire service more than 20 years ago. The award celebrates individuals who demonstrate outstanding and creative problem-solving and performance. Sherwood has deep ties to Northern Minnesota with a degree from Bemidji State and a certificate from Northwest Technical College.

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HOST: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at ampers dot org.