Protest laid bare

The Supreme Court's first ruling in regards to an Iraq war protest probably will not be remembered as a landmark case in law, as reported by Villanous Company recently. Once more it seems, free speech has come out on the losing end of a court ruling.

I can now add a 9-0 ruling in which the justices rejected a claim for legal fees filed on behalf of a Florida nudist who wanted to form a peace symbol out of nudes on a state beach there. Toni Anne Wyner and her protest ran afoul of the state's Bathing Suit Law and in February 2003, she went to court to challenge this law as a violation of her 1st Admendment right to free expression.

A judge at first saw merit in her complaint and allowed the protest to take place behind a screen, to shield other patrons at John D MacArthur Beach State Park in Palm Beach County. The protest was held, followed by a nude romp to the water, where I suppose there should also have been a screen to prevent hapless fish from viewing such vulgarity.

"The value of freedom is found not only in the larger issues of life but also in the fanciful and strange," said U S District Judge Donald Middlebrooks.

Wyner returned to court seeking a permanent order allowing such protests but the judge refused and ruled for the state. He did say however, that the civil liberties lawyers who represented her were entitled to be paid because they had won at least one round of the litigation. The Supreme Court reversed that decision in Sole vs Wyner, concluding that Wyner was not a prevailing party.

Despite what seems to be a legal setback for Wyner's free speech, she produced another nude peace symbol on the beach in 2007. State officials are said to have not interfered then and I am sure that there were more than a few that noticed her "message." I've seen some of the "bathing suits" that abound and I am sure nude is only a few square inches of material away from it.