A judge David Rees of Multnomah County court ruled that John E. Brennan was protected by his First Amendment Rights when he stripped naked to protest TSA's security scanning at the Portland International Airport in April. The 50-year-old Portland resident was charged with a criminal misdemeanor for indecent exposure in public.
He was acquitted of the charges on Wednesday after judge Rees ruled that nudity laws did not apply to protests and his actions were protected by his constitutional right to speech.
"It is the speech itself that the state is seeking to punish, and that it cannot do," said judge Rees to the New York Daily.
On April 17 Brennan was asked to pass through a security scanner at the airport, the Portland man, who was a frequent TSA traveller. He was then subjected to a pat-down, he grew impatient and annoyed with the airlines security tactics and stripped off all his clothes. "I was mostly motivated by the absurdity of it all," he told the Associated Press.
"I also was aware of the irony of taking off my clothes to protect my privacy...wanted to show the TSA that I know my rights. That you have these machines that can see us naked. ... They're getting as close to seeing us naked as they can. And I are upping the ante," Brennan told The Oregon Live.
He later told the airport authorities that he striped in protest of TSA's cumbersome security scans. Deputy District Attorney Joel Petersen, however, argued that since Brennan made no mention of his intention to protest prior to the incident, he should be charged for indecent exposure. Peterson urged the judge to reconsider, since the ruling will permit "any other person who is ever naked will be able to state after the fact that it was done in protest," according to Oregon Live.
However, judge Rees cited that Brennan's case had precedence in other court rulings particularly referring to a 1985 appellate court ruling which stated that nudity laws did not apply to protests.
If Brennan was found guilty, the city agreed to reduce his charge to a violation which would have resulted in him paying a penalty.
Portland had its annual World Naked Bike Ride in June, the event is said to have over 10,000 participants who rode their bikes across the city in the nude.
