NUDITY AND
THE LAW IN
CALIFORNIA
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RELEVANT LEGAL DOCUMENTS
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Cahill Policy, 1977
California v. Bost, 1988
Judge Jack Harrison Letter to Cec Cinder, 1988
California vs. Smith, 1972
Here is a summary of current nudity laws as they pertain to federal land and California state parks. The information found on this web site should not be construde as providing legal advice or counsel to the reader:
Federal Land
There is no federal law against nudity but neither is it a guaranteed
right. (This means that state, county and local laws can take
precedence, in that order, if they choose to do so.)
Limitations on nudity on federal land is up to the discretion of the
Superintendent in charge of each individual National Park, Monument,
and Forest.
California
State Law
California Codes Sections 314-318.6 (as of 6/2000):
Every person who willfully and lewdly, either: 1. Exposes his person, or the private parts thereof, in any public place, or in any place where there are present other persons to be offended or annoyed thereby; or, 2. Procures, counsels, or assists any person so to expose himself or take part in any model artist exhibition, or to make any other exhibition of himself to public view, or the view of any number of persons, such as is offensive to decency, or is adapted to excite to or thoughts or acts, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Every person who violates subdivision 1 of this section after having entered, without consent, an inhabited dwelling house, or trailer coach as defined in Section 635 of the Vehicle , or the inhabited portion of any other building, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison, or in the county jail not exceeding one year.
Upon the second and each subsequent conviction under subdivision 1 of this section, or upon a first conviction under subdivision 1 of this section after a previous conviction under Section 288, every person so convicted is guilty of a felony, and is punishable by imprisonment in state prison.
A 1972 California court case (California v. Bost, 1988) set the precedent that simple beach nudity is not indecent exposure.
Warning: If you "cross the line" from simple nudity to sexual activity, you can (and probably will) be prosecuted under California Penal Code Section 314, and upon conviction will carry a lifetime registration as a sex offender!. You will also put at risk the clothing-optional status of that beach or hot spring so please don't cross that line. Nudists will also aggressively enforce against misbehavior!
California
State Parks
Section 4322 of Title 14 of the California Administrative Code
regarding nudity in the state parks:
No person shall appear nude while in any unit except in authorized areas set aside for that purpose by the Department. The word nude as used herein means unclothed or in such a state of undress as to expose any part of portion of the pubic or anal region or genitalia of any person or any portion of the breast at or below the areola thereof of any female person.
All sections are misdemeanors which carry a maximum punishment of 90 days in jail and/or $1,000 fine.
While this regulation allows for setting aside specific clothing optional areas, the parks department hasn't taken advantage of the provision. State Park rangers have operated for many years under a policy known as the "Cahill policy."
Since the people most likely to make a complaint are also the least likely to make an effort to get to a remote part of a state beach, those areas have become clothing optional. If you stay in those areas, you are unlikely to be bothered. However, if a ranger appears and asks you to put your clothes on, comply and stay clothed for the rest of the day to avoid a citation.
California Evidence Codes
SECTION 1100.
Except as otherwise provided by statute, any otherwise admissible evidence (including evidence in the form of an opinion, evidence of reputation, and evidence of specific instances of such person's conduct) is admissible to prove a person's character or a trait of his character.
SECTION 1108.
(a) In a criminal action in which the defendant is accused of a sexual offense, evidence of the defendant's commission of another sexual offense or offenses is not made inadmissible by Section 1101, if the evidence is not inadmissible pursuant to Section 352.
(b) In an action in which evidence is to be offered under this section, the people shall disclose the evidence to the defendant, including statements of witnesses or a summary of the substance of any testimony that is expected to be offered, at least 30 days before the scheduled date of trial or at such later time as the court may allow for good cause.
(c) This section shall not be construed to limit the admission or consideration of evidence under any other section of this code.
(d) As used in this section, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) "Sexual offense" means a crime under the law of a state or of the United States that involved any of the following:
(A) Any conduct proscribed by Section 243.4, 261, 261.5, 262, 264.1, 266c, 269, 286, 288, 288a, 288.2, 288.5, or 289, or subdivision (b), (c), or (d) of Section 311.2 or Section 311.3, 311.4, 311.10, 311.11, 314, or 647.6, of the Penal Code.
(B) Contact, without consent, between any part of the defendant's body or an object and the genitals or anus of another person.
(C) Contact, without consent, between the genitals or anus of the defendant and any part of another person's body.
(D) Deriving sexual pleasure or gratification from the infliction of death, bodily injury, or physical pain on another person.
(E) An attempt or conspiracy to engage in conduct described in this paragraph.
(2) "Consent" shall have the same meaning as provided in Section 261.6 of the Penal Code, except that it does not include consent which is legally ineffective bec ause of the age, mental disorder, or developmental or physical disability of the victim.
Santa
Barbara County
It is the intent of the board of supervisors to prohibit nudity in
public places, places open to the public, and places open to public
view whether such places are publicly or privately owned, even when
such nudity is not sexually motivated or otherwise lewd.
Ordinance No. 2507, § 1; Ord. No. 2564, § 1
Sec. 24-15. Nudity --Offenses numerated; penalties.(a) It is hereby declared a public nuisance and unlawful for any person to appear on any beach, park, street or in any other public place or place open to the public or exposed to public view, including specifically a view from any private residence or any portion of the real property in the immediate vicinity of such private residence, whether such place is publicly or privately owned, unclothed or in such a state of undress as to expose, in the case of a female, any portion of her breasts below the areolas thereof or in the case of any male or female, any part of his or her pubic or anal region or genitalia.
(b) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any acts which take place wholly within a fully enclosed building or any portion thereof; and nothing contained herein shall be construed to prohibit any act or acts which are expressly authorized or prohibited by the Penal Code of the state.
(c) Violations of this section shall be an infraction punishable by a fine in the sum of fifty dollars for a first violation; a fine in the sum of one hundred dollars for a second violation of this section within one year after the first violation; and a fine in the sum of two hundred fifty dollars for each additional violation within one year after a second violation and within one year after any subsequent violation of this section thereafter.
Los
Angeles County
County Ordinance 17.12.360, "Nudity and Disrobing":
A) No person shall appear, bathe, sunbathe, walk, change clothes, disrobe or |be on any beach in such manner that the genitals, vulva, pubis, pubic symphysis, pubic hair, buttocks, natal cleft, perineum, anus, anal region or pubic hair region of any person, or any portion of the breast at or below the upper edge of the areola thereof of any female person, is exposed to public view, except in those portions of a comfort station, if| any, expressly set aside for such purpose.
B) This section shall not apply to persons under the age of 10 years, provided such children are sufficiently clothed to conform to accepted community standards.
C) This section shall not apply to persons engaged in a live theatrical performance in a theater, concert hall, or similar establishment which is primarily devoted to theatrical performances.
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Affiliated
with the Southern California
Naturist Association (SCNA) |