Public Indecency, Yes or No

[Audie]

Let them off with a warning first. If they don't stop, let them take a small break in holding cell for the rest of the night.

Nope

 

[Skwim]

Your question was

" does asking this really amount to public indecency?"

If you want an answer based on the legality of it, it depends entirely on the laws of the state. If you are asking this from the perspective of morality it falls to personal opinion.

Which one are you after?

I'm asking about your contention that the act falls under the description of public lewdness you cite. So, how does asking the question at issue fit the description?

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[Subduction Zone]

One night I was watching an episode of Cops wherein a guy was at a public beach and approached a woman and asked her for oral sex. She said no and then called the police. After she explained what had happened they arrested the guy for public indecency.

Question: does asking this really amount to public indecency?

If yes, why?

If no, why not?
​

And here's the real kicker; he was with his wife---evidently she wasn't nearby when he made the proposition---and when the police explained why they were arresting her husband she was utterly unfazed. No reaction whatsoever.

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That was an old one. Wasn't alcohol involved as well? And whether it was "public indecency" or not depends upon the state. He could have been arrested for public inebriation if it was the one that I remember.

 

[Valjean]

"Public indecency" or lewdness can cover a lot of ground. A man speaking to a strange woman on the streets of Riyadh might be indecent. Shaking a strange woman's hand in Tehran is all out.
"Indecency" can be a slippery slope.

A century ago a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking.
Bathing Suit Bans & Arrests, 1922 – History By Zim

 

[Wu Wei]

I'm asking about your contention that the act falls under the description of public lewdness you cite. So, how does asking a simple question fit the description?

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Public lewdness.
A person is guilty of public lewdness when he intentionally exposes
the private or intimate parts of his body in a lewd manner or commits
any other lewd act (a) in a public place, or (b) in private premises
under circumstances in which he may readily be observed from either a
public place or from other private premises, and with intent that he be
so observed.

Could also fall under harassment in the 2nd degree

240.26 Harassment in the second degree. A person is guilty of harassment in the second degree when, with intent to harass, annoy or alarm another person: 1. He or she strikes, shoves, kicks or otherwise subjects such other person to physical contact, or attempts or threatens to do the same; or 2. He or she follows a person in or about a public place or places; or 3. He or she engages in a course of conduct or repeatedly commits acts which alarm or seriously annoy such other person and which serve no legitimate purpose. Subdivisions two and three of this section shall not apply to activities regulated by the national labor relations act, as amended, the railway labor act, as amended, or the federal employment labor management act, as amended. Harassment in the second degree is a violation.

 

[Skwim]

If it happened in a bar would you think differently? I mean stuff like that gets said a good bit in bars.

The threat comes down to context doesn't it. And what might be considered threatening in a bar, might be welcomed in a bedroom.

.

 

[Holdasown]

The threat comes down to context doesn't it. And what might be considered threatening in a bar, might be welcomed in a bedroom..

It's a threat now?

 

[Valjean]

Human progress has always relied on pushing the envelope.

 

[Valjean]

Call it by any label one chooses, except
maybe polite and respectful.

Maybe a night with some friendly cellmates
will teach him that actions have consequences.

For someone such as myself who is, what,
"pre-stressed' by ugly encounter(s) with men,
the shot of stress hormones we get from that
sort of verbal assault is very real, and should
not be simply permitted.

Sounds rather like the response of a woman from certain parts of the middle East to a simple "good morning."
Is the cure in legal restrictions, or habituation?

 

[Skwim]

That was an old one. Wasn't alcohol involved as well? And whether it was "public indecency" or not depends upon the state. He could have been arrested for public inebriation if it was the one that I remember.

I don't recall any mention of alcohol.

And I'm not really looking for any legal opinion or definition. If that was the case I could have simply looked them up (well, maybe not so simply). What' I'm looking for is if one feels it's indecent to ask a stranger for oral sex in a public setting. ​

(Only highlighted in bold red as clarification for everyone)

.

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[Estro Felino]

Popeye...4 years ago u started
Public Indecency, Yes or No

 

[Skwim]

Public lewdness.
A person is guilty of public lewdness when he intentionally exposes
the private or intimate parts of his body in a lewd manner or commits
any other lewd act (a) in a public place, or (b) in private premises
under circumstances in which he may readily be observed from either a
public place or from other private premises, and with intent that he be
so observed.

Nice, but where does it mention that asking a question about sex amounts to a lewd act? (This is rhetorical. Please do not answer)

Could also fall under harassment in the 2nd degree

240.26 Harassment in the second degree. A person is guilty of harassment in the second degree when, with intent to harass, annoy or alarm another person: 1. He or she strikes, shoves, kicks or otherwise subjects such other person to physical contact, or attempts or threatens to do the same; or 2. He or she follows a person in or about a public place or places; or 3. He or she engages in a course of conduct or repeatedly commits acts which alarm or seriously annoy such other person and which serve no legitimate purpose. Subdivisions two and three of this section shall not apply to activities regulated by the national labor relations act, as amended, the railway labor act, as amended, or the federal employment labor management act, as amended. Harassment in the second degree is a violation.

Get real. Face it, the laws you present don't apply to the question he asked.

In any case, as I've pointed out in post 30 I'm not interested in any state laws or legal definitions, so this is my last response to this line of discussion.

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[Subduction Zone]

I don't recall any mention of alcohol.

And I'm not really looking for any legal opinion or definition. If that was the case I could have simply looked them up (well, maybe not so simply). What' I'm looking for is if one feels it's indecent to ask a stranger for oral sex in a public setting. ​

(Only highlighted in bold red as clarification for everyone)

.

.

Like I said, that was an old episode. Our memories may be fuzzy. I thought that alcohol played a part. I do not think one could be arrested for just that, but that may vary from state to state. But one could have been arrested for public inebriation. Looking up the offense it appears that some sort of public nudity needs to be involved for it to be an offense:

Public Indecency Overview :: Justia

If he asked for that sort of service with his unit hanging out that would have qualified as public indecency.

 

[Skwim]

Popeye...4 years ago u started
Public Indecency, Yes or No

Yup. With new members having come aboard since then I thought it would be an interesting question to repeat, and so far it appears that it is.

.

 

[Audie]

Sounds rather like the response of a woman from certain parts of the middle East to a simple "good morning."
Is the cure in legal restrictions, or habituation?

So, like, hear verbal assaults so often that I fail
to notice it any more?

 

[Audie]

Human progress has always relied on pushing the envelope.

Haha-just dont try pushing mine.

 

[Skwim]

It's a threat now?

If it isn't a threat then what kind of offense would it be? Just an "I don't like what you say" kind of offense?

.

 

[Skwim]

Like I said, that was an old episode. Our memories may be fuzzy. I thought that alcohol played a part. I do not think one could be arrested for just that, but that may vary from state to state. But one could have been arrested for public inebriation. Looking up the offense it appears that some sort of public nudity needs to be involved for it to be an offense:

Public Indecency Overview :: Justia

If he asked for that sort of service with his unit hanging out that would have qualified as public indecency.

Truthfully, it would make far more sense that he was arrested for public intoxication than for asking for oral sex, but that's not how I remembered it. which might be very mistaken. My remembery isn't as good as it once was.

.

 

[sun rise]

Public lewdness.
A person is guilty of public lewdness when he intentionally exposes
the private or intimate parts of his body in a lewd manner or commits
any other lewd act (a) in a public place, or (b) in private premises
under circumstances in which he may readily be observed from either a
public place or from other private premises, and with intent that he be
so observed.

Could also fall under harassment in the 2nd degree

240.26 Harassment in the second degree. A person is guilty of harassment in the second degree when, with intent to harass, annoy or alarm another person: 1. He or she strikes, shoves, kicks or otherwise subjects such other person to physical contact, or attempts or threatens to do the same; or 2. He or she follows a person in or about a public place or places; or 3. He or she engages in a course of conduct or repeatedly commits acts which alarm or seriously annoy such other person and which serve no legitimate purpose. Subdivisions two and three of this section shall not apply to activities regulated by the national labor relations act, as amended, the railway labor act, as amended, or the federal employment labor management act, as amended. Harassment in the second degree is a violation.

That fits with my understanding. It was not indecent. Whether such behavior is considered to "serve no legitimate purpose" would be something for a judge and jury to decide.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Truthfully, it would make far more sense that he was arrested for public intoxication than for asking for oral sex, but that's not how I remembered it. which might be very mistaken. My remembery isn't as good as it once was.

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And the show is of course edited at any rate. The offense that he was arrested for may not have been what was portrayed on the show. But I agree with you, and my very limited research seems to agree to, that merely asking for oral sex would not be "public indecency". Please excuse me for not testing this hypothesis personally