News coverage: http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/12/30/offbeat.naked.web.ticket.ap/ >The 21-year-old Web designer was busted for violating Lincoln's public >nudity ordinance by posting pictures on her Web site that apparently >showed her naked in a downtown bar... (Melissa) Harrington was to be >arraigned in Lancaster County Court on January 29. If convicted, she faces >a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $500 fine. Original documents: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/nakedlincoln1.html Melissa's site: http://www.melissalincoln.com/main.html The Liberty Round Table's "Free Melissa" project: http://www.libertyroundtable.org/projects/freemelissa/ >Meet our new friend Melissa. She's a fairly ordinary 'girl next door' who >has a day job and does web design. She also has a healthy respect for >human beauty and is completely unashamed of her body. She has combined the >two and built a web site that features, among other things, nude pictures >of her, some in what appear to be fairly public places ... and found that >she really likes the feeling this gives her. She compares it to a natural >high. > >For our part, we are not exhibitionists, but do believe that anything that >de-mystifies sex, shows that good clean fun and healthy bodies are not >'dirty', is a very positive thing. There's no end to the flood of misery >produced by people's twisted ideas about sex, love, and the human body, so >we say: 'Hurray for Melissa's one woman war against benighted puritan >attitudes!' That Melissa's site has a commercial side makes her work no >less valuable -- have not libertarians and objectivists always said that >freedom is so valuable that there ought to be a way to promote it at a >profit? We agree with Melissa; she has nothing to be ashamed of, not her >body, not her pictures, not her profit. > >Unfortunately the police don't see it our way -- or perhaps they do, but >have their hands tied by blue-nosed laws that should be stricken from the >books. Whatever the reason, Melissa has been targeted and ticketed for >"public nudity" and faces a $500 fine and possible jail time of up to six >months. >Even if everything Melissa is accused of is true (and with photoshop being >what it is these days, no one can really claim that pictures on a web site >prove anything anymore), it would not be as though she had flashed anyone, >nor subjected anyone who did not want to see it to the sight of her body. >Her pictures were taken in a discrete environment of consent, and viewed >online by people who chose to see them. The only crimes committed are >those of the authorities who are willing to apply the full force of law to >a woman who has hurt no one. Make no mistake, for daring to enjoy her >freedom, her self, and sharing that fun, Melissa is to be arraigned on >January 29, and could soon be the victim of legalized theft and enslavement. > >We should also say, lest anyone think we are trying to mislead freedom >activists (or Melissa herself), that she never claimed to be a >libertarian. In fact, while she does believe her web site has artistic >merit and should be protected by the First Amendment, and the playful >banter on the site is an unabashed sales pitch ('unabashed' just seems to >go hand in hand with Melissa), she says it's really all about having fun. >She would do it anyway, even if there was no money to be made, and she >says she's willing to spend every last penny she gets from the site >fighting for her freedom to express herself (and everyone else's freedom too). > >So, how can you help? > >Well, Melissa says that she wants to fight this "all the way" and has no >intention of taking any plea bargains. So, of course, there're legal >expenses. But rather than asking people to contribute to a legal defense >fund, she asks folks who want to help to "sign up" for her web site >(register as paying subscribers to gain access to the full content of the >site). Even if you don't want to see pictures of Melissa, this will help >her, financially, of course, but also to show that many people approve of >what she's doing -- or, at least, disapprove of what the state is doing to >her. It seems to me that there is no better way to show appreciation for >an artist than to pay for her work; it has a better, cleaner feel than >straight charity and allows her to be able to give some value in return >for the help. _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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