Go Topless on the Beach? No, Says NJ Court - ThirdAge

Women can't go topless on public beaches, a New Jersey Court ruled Wednesday. According to the Associated Press, the case stemmed from Manhattan artist Phoenix Feeley's arrest in 2008 when she sunbathed topless on the Jersey Shore.

Feeley, 31, was fined $750 for violating the public nudity ordinance of the town of Spring Lake and for dropping her top again after her release in 2008. She challenged the ordinance, hoping to receive a similar result as her 2007 case in New York City, where she received a $29,000 settlement after being charged with indecent exposure.

"It was a civil rights settlement," her lawyer, Jeffrey Rothman, said at the time. "We hope the police learn a lesson and respect the rights of women to go topless."

Feeley received the settlement for the unlawful arrest, as well as for bad treatment from police. Rothman said that cops yanked Feeley by her hair and left her nearly bottomless when they ripped her pants.

This time, however, the state appeals court sided against her. The court rejected her argument that the Spring Lake ordinance discriminated against women because men were allowed to appear topless. The court wrote that "restrictions on the exposure of the female breast are supported by the important governmental interest in safeguarding the public's moral sensibilities."