media and Internet law

Walters came in at the behest of "Farm Boy" O'Brien in the notable
Fla. Roadblock Case, pro-bono.

Lawrence G. Walters, Managing Partner

He has practiced law for almost two decades, concentrating in the
areas of constitutional, media and Internet law. He is recognized as
a national expert on legal issues pertaining to Free Speech and the
Internet,

http://www.lawrencewalters.com/qualifications.php3

http://www.freespeechlaw.com/publications.php3


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Thursday, October 12, 2006

http://www.ynot.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=news_article&sid=17232

Appellate Court Upholds Florida Woman's Right to Bare Breasts During
Political Protests
by Q. Boyer

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - In a decision issued last week, the Court of
Appeals for the Seventh Judicial Circuit in Daytona Beach, FL ruled
that "Top-Free" protestor Elizabeth Book has the right to go topless
in public without criminal sanction in connection with legitimate acts
of political protest.

Book was originally charged under a city ordinance banning public
nudity after going topless during a "Bike Week" biker rally in March
of 2004. The arrest came despite an exception contained in the
pertinent Daytona Beach ordinance that allows for public nudity in the
course of a political demonstration, or where such conduct is
protected by the First Amendment, according to Book's attorney,
Lawrence G. Walters

"They just couldn't resist," Walters told YNOT, referring to the
decision of local prosecutors to charge Book, despite the exception
for political protests contained in the ordinance she was charged
under.

Walters noted that Book announced her intentions well in advance, and
that her protest, an expression of Book's opinion that it is unfair
for men to be permitted to go topless in public places while women are
prohibited from doing so, clearly "had all the indicia of a legitimate
political protest."

Prior to Book's Bike Week protest, when Book learned that local police
planned to arrest anyone who went topless at the protest, Walters
sought an emergency injunction in federal court to prevent the police
from making the arrests, arrests which appear to contradict the
language of the very ordinance the police said they were enforcing.
The federal court eventually ruled it didn't have time to fully
consider the issue prior to the Bike Week event, and so declined to
issue the emergency injunction.

Book, having warned the other women who attended the protest of the
possibility of arrest, was the sole topless protestor at the event.
Book was arrested and ordered to pay a fine of $253 or contest the
matter in court.

In June of 2005, Volusia County Judge David Beck ruled that Book was
within her rights and that her protest was exempt from prosecution
under the relevant ordinance. The city appealed, arguing that Book's
protest was not legitimate and served a purpose other than airing of a
political grievance.

Walters said, however, that the city presented no real evidence of
another motive or rationale for the protest though, and merely
presented the court with a "parade of possibilities."

"They just tried to smear her," Walters told YNOT.
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