MN Supreme Court Rules Women Can Bare Their Breasts in Public

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that women exposing their breasts in public is not “lewd” or illegal, overturning a prior conviction and sparking fierce public concern over its impact on children and public decency.

Key Facts:

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in favor of Eloisa Rubi Plancarte, reversing her indecent exposure conviction.
Plancarte was arrested after repeatedly exposing her breasts in public, including in front of police.
The court concluded her actions did not meet the legal definition of “lewd,” which must involve sexual conduct.
Justice Procaccini noted the term “lewdly” was too ambiguous to fairly convict under current state law.
Critics say the ruling ignores child protection concerns and opens the door to more public nudity.

The Rest of The Story:

Eloisa Rubi Plancarte was arrested after exposing her breasts in public multiple times, including during a police encounter.

Though she was convicted of indecent exposure at the district court level, she challenged the decision, arguing that her conduct was not of a sexual nature and therefore not “lewd” under Minnesota law.

The Minnesota Supreme Court agreed with her.

In a majority opinion, the justices found that the law’s use of the term “lewdly” required evidence of sexual conduct, which was absent in this case.

The court emphasized that ambiguous language in the statute made it difficult for people to know what behaviors were actually prohibited.

Justice Hennesy, in a concurring opinion, argued that classifying female breasts as “private parts” reinforces harmful stereotypes.

Civil rights groups and gender activists supported the ruling, calling it a win for gender equality.

Commentary:

This ruling is deeply troubling for anyone who believes children deserve protection from adult behaviors in public spaces.

While the court focused on legal definitions, it failed to address the broader consequences of allowing such public exposure.

Children, especially, are harmed when modesty is stripped away in daily life.

Public spaces like parks, grocery stores, or beaches should not be battlegrounds for radical social experiments.

By legalizing public toplessness, the court has dismissed valid concerns about the psychological and emotional wellbeing of minors.

The court’s interpretation of “lewd” as requiring overtly sexual behavior completely ignores the fact that repeated nudity in public—especially when defended with statements like “Catholic girls do it all the time”—sends confusing and harmful messages to children.

Stripping in front of strangers, regardless of intent, crosses a line of decency.

This also opens a slippery slope.

Now that public toplessness is no longer criminal under this interpretation, what’s next?

Public nudity of other kinds?

“Freedom of expression” defenses for indecency?

The legal groundwork has been laid for more extreme challenges to traditional moral boundaries.

What the court failed to do was consider community standards and the common-sense expectation that public exposure—especially around children—should be limited.

Instead, activist judges, many appointed under Governor Walz, are remaking the state’s laws to align with fringe ideologies.

The people of Minnesota are seeing what happens when they elect leaders who appoint judges with agendas.

The judiciary should safeguard public decency, not undermine it under the guise of “gender equality.”

The Bottom Line:

The Minnesota Supreme Court’s ruling allows public toplessness by women, declaring it legal unless proven sexual in nature.

This decision will likely lead to a rise in public nudity and further challenges to community norms.

Parents and citizens concerned about protecting children’s innocence are right to feel outraged.

This case marks a disturbing shift in how the law treats decency in public life.

MN Supreme Court Rules Women Can Bare Their Breasts in Public

Key Facts:

The Rest of The Story:

Commentary:

The Bottom Line:

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