An artist crusading for the right to sunbathe topless in New Jersey beach town has lost her bid after an appeals panel ruled baring breasts violates 'the public's moral sensibilities.'
Phoenix Feeley, aka Jill Coccaro, won a settlement for going topless in New York City six years ago, but must keep covered in the Garden State.
The two-judge panel - one male and one female - ruled Wednesday against Ms Coccaro's challenge to Spring Lake's public nudity law. The right to bare all: Artist Jill Coccaro, aka Phoenix Feeley, was rejected in her fight to go topless in New Jersey
On June 28, 2008, Ms Feeley was sunbathing topless when she was approached by a police officer who asked her to put her top back on.
When she refused, she was arrested and taken to the police headquarters, where she was given a T-shirt to cover up and released.
But a short time later, the same officer was called to an intersection near the police station, where Feeley had taken off the shirt and was walking around topless.
The shirt she had been given was found hanging by the entrance to the police department. Crusader: Miss Coccaro, an artist, won a similar claim against New York City in 2005
Ms Feeley's argument: If men can do it, why can’t she?
The court, however, dismissed her argument that the town's public nudity law discriminated against women because men can go topless. NAKED AMBITION: MAKING TOPLESS NO BIG DEAL
Although being topless is legal in New York City, a group of women are looking to make it less taboo and perfectly acceptable.
The Outdoor Co-Ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society was born as a coordinated effort to shed shirts and enjoy the sun.
Through their blog and Twitter account (@ToplessPulp) the society celebrates the legality of being bare-breasted in public - with a book.
The group has hosted eight events this summer, mostly in city parks, as well as outside the historic Flatiron Building.
Members say the point of the group is to relax outdoors and enjoy the freedom allowed by law for those too timid to take advantage of it.
(Source: The Village Voice)
The court said 'restrictions on the exposure of the female breast are supported by the important governmental interest in safeguarding the public's moral sensibilities.'
A Spring Lake visitor's guide posted on SpringLake.org boasts that the seaside town offers its residents and vacationers 'an unhurried atmosphere of gracious living.'
Most states have laws against public nudity, with some more strict than others.
In New Jersey, it’s illegal to expose genitals or breasts in front of children under 13 or a person with a mental illness.
Breast-feeding mothers are usually exempt from the state laws.
Ms Coccaro is no stranger to legal brawls over her breasts.
In 2005, she won a $29,000 settlement after she was charged briefly with indecent exposure in New York City in 2005.
She had sued, reminding the city about a New York Supreme Court ruling that says women can go topless in public.
New York in particular is a hotbed for the public nudity debate. The city plays host annually to a naked bike ride and the famous 'No-Pants Subway Ride.'
Artist Andy Golub painted a nude model on two separate dates last month in the city's Times Square, one of which was carted off to jail.
Also last month, the Outdoor Co-Ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society conducted various naked reading events in various NYC parks. In the sun: Ms Coccaro's argument against Spring Lake, New Jersey's public nudity law was that if men can go topless, why can't women
In the sun: Ms Coccaro's argument against Spring Lake, New Jersey's public nudity law was that if men can go topless, why can't women
