A Utah Woman Was Charged for Going Topless in Her Own Home. Her Legal Case Is Not Going Great.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

A Utah judge just denied a local woman’s motion to declare the state’s lewdness law unconstitutional after she was slammed with criminal charges for going topless in her own home.

Last year Tilli Buchanan was charged with lewdness after she and her husband took their shirts off while installing insulation in their garage. Her husband, who was in a similar state of undress, was not charged. Buchanan’s stepchildren were also there. Their mother was the one who reported Buchanan to the authorities. As I wrote back in September:

Even though Buchanan was topless in the privacy of her own home, she is now facing potentially very serious consequences: three counts of lewdness involving a child, a class A misdemeanor which could land her in jail and place her on the sex offender registry for 10 years. Utah’s ordinance about lewdness involving a child prohibits the exposure of “the female breast below the top of the areola,” either in public or “in a private place under circumstances the person should know will likely cause affront or alarm or with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of the actor or the child.”

Buchanan’s attorneys filed a motion to declare Utah’s lewdness statute unconstitutional because it discriminates against women, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. They based their motion on a 10th Circuit Court ruling that found a Fort Collins, Colorado, ban on female toplessness unconstitutional because it did not apply similarly to men. The judge in Buchanan’s case claimed that that ruling did not apply here as the Utah law is “significantly different.”

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/01/utah-lewd-law-tilli-buchanan-topless-own-home-criminal-charges/

Lewdness involving a child? Does that include breast feeding?

[hlthe2b]

1. Stupid... Can't even suggest they come into the 21st century, since breast feeding and breasts...

have been a natural part of us since the first "People"... (or the missing link, depending)

[Hermit-The-Prog]

6. it is unbelievably stupid ...

Women have breasts. These autocratic shitheads should just get over it. It's just another manufactured excuse to exert control over women.

There are cultures where women do not hide their breasts. These cultures are not hotbeds of crime.

We are nuts.

[onethatcares]

10. please lose that silly notion

women have honkers and hoohoos.,..........no mothers of or women that are representatives of us have either.

what a depraved society we are, we're nucking futz.

[Poeraria]

2. If I remember correctly, this is a step-mother and the child's mother filed a complaint...

...when the incident was reported to her by the child. I'm a bit torn. If you wish to educate your children in the human body, fine, but to have someone else take it upon them to make a decision contrary to the parent's wishes, is a different thing.

Criminal charges may be too much, but if the bio-mom had objections, maybe go back to family court to have restrictions placed on the parents in regard to said education and behavior.

[Wellstone ruled]

4. If you have ever lived

in Utah for any length of time and were not a member of the Tithing or Sperm Club,you would understand what is really going on here. The Righteous Bitty is seeking revenge. And in Utah,if you are not a member of the a-for mentioned Club,shit happens.

[Hortensis]

11. Agree. Given the disastrous effects on the family

relationships, though, I'm inclined to not assume this woman was reasonably asserting what she reasonably believed was her duty as a mother. And I also respect people's right to hold religious beliefs and raise their children accordingly.

But misusing the authorities as a, potentially deadly, weapon, to empower one side in domestic disputes is dreadfully common and often used by badly behaved people. Did they really push her until she had no choice but to protect her child?

[Newest Reality]

3. We stll have

the remnants of a rather infantile/adolescent fixation on the books. Paying heed to that and the discrimination involved is immature, as well.

This is an "eye of the beholder" projection crime, (in other words, victimless) and now that we are on the cusp of recognizing rights for women that were not even considered during the time laws like that were legislated, the real victim is the women and the discrimination is the real problem.

How dare they treat that situation as a something that applies to a sex offender, especially in a person's own home. That would even imply that mother's who expose their breasts to the infants/toddlers are criminals? Ridiculous.

It also seems that we are losing the important focus on the intent of an alleged crime, which is a mitigating factor. For instance, one could ask if the topless woman had any intent to be lewd, sexual or to corrupt a minor? You know, logical stuff over reactionary, infantile and deplorable misogyny, which is, unfortunately not only legal it's the law.

[CaptYossarian]

5. I really can't comment until I see the evidence.

[PCIntern]

9. Last time I posted a retort like yours

I got in a lot of trouble with the angry folk here.

[CaptYossarian]

18. I've been catching a lot more hell than usual lately, but I've also been getting

some nice compliments too.

But then again, I noticed some of my posts are more cynical and some are bawdier than they used to be. Maybe we're all affected by the crappy weather now or it's extreme Trump fatigue.

[MagickMuffin]

7. Not sure why anyone would WANT to go shirtless installing insulation

Yikes, that stuff is dangerous. I've been around it growing up and believe me you want to wear clothes.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

8. That was kind of my thought.

Guess it depends what you're installing.

If it's fiberglass yes you can get a nasty itch from it. Spray on maybe not.

[dalton99a]

12. "They took off their shirts to keep their clothes from getting dirty"

Buchanan was charged after she and her husband took off their shirts to keep their clothes from getting dirty while they hung drywall in their garage in a Salt Lake City suburb in late 2017 or early 2018. His three children, ages 9 through 13, then walked in and saw the couple topless.

The children’s mother reported the incident to child welfare officials working on a separate investigation involving the kids. Her husband was not charged.

Buchanan “explained she considers herself a feminist and wanted to make a point that everybody should be fine with walking around their house or elsewhere with skin showing,” her lawyers said in court documents.

Police alleged Buchanan removed her shirt and bra in front of the children while “under the influence of alcohol.”

https://nypost.com/2020/01/22/woman-charged-after-going-topless-in-front-of-stepkids-faces-court-setback/

[Kaleva]

14. Frankly, I'd want to wear clothing, coveralls, while putting in any kind of insulation.

[panader0]

17. The first thing I thought of.

I have installed quite a bit of fiberglass insulation and you want to
keep your shirt on.

[Kaleva]

13. Is the woman legally a step mom or does the bio-mom still have rights?

I read one comment saying the Division of Child and Family Services was involved. The bar is set pretty high for a parent to get in trouble when child services get involved.

I think it's important to clarify who has legal and physical custody of the children.

[Yavin4]

15. If a woman cannot bare her breast in front of a child, then how can she breast feed it? n/t

[Kaleva]

16. You wouldn't have a problem with a woman attempting to breast feed one of your children?

The woman isn't the motehr of the children an I'm not sure if she has any legal rights to them. The bio-mother may still have rights.