BS: NYC: More civilized than I thought!

Subject: BS: NYC: More civilized than I thought!
From: beardedbruce
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 02:36 PM

New York City pays $29,000 for arresting topless woman

POSTED: 10:15 a.m. EDT, June 18, 2007

Story Highlights• Jill Coccaro, 27, accepts settlement for her 2005 arrest during topless stroll
• NYC police held her for 12 hours before telling her she wouldn't be charged
• Appeals court ruled in '92 that women have same right as men to go topless
• Lawyer: "We hope police learn a lesson and respect the rights of women"

NEW YORK (AP) -- A woman arrested for exposing her breasts has accepted a $29,000 settlement from the city, her lawyer said.

Jill Coccaro, 27, was arrested on a topless stroll two years ago, despite a 1992 state appeals court ruling that concluded women should have the same right as men to take off their shirts.

Coccaro, who now goes by the name Phoenix Feeley, remained in custody for 12 hours before she was told prosecutors were not going to pursue charges.

Her attorney, Jeffrey Rothman, told the Daily News that his client won the civil rights settlement from the city, which did not admit or deny wrongdoing.

"We hope the police learn a lesson and respect the rights of women to go topless," Rothman said.

Feeley told the New York Post that she was not treated well after her August 4, 2005, arrest in Manhattan's Lower East Side section. She claimed in an October lawsuit that a police officer yanked her out of a patrol car by her hair and police took her to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

She told the newspaper she had gone bare-breasted after running the 2004 city marathon without police bothering her.

"I've always just felt that was something natural," Feeley said of going topless. "I've kind of always done it out of practicality."

Subject: RE: BS: NYC: More civilized than I thought!
From: Mickey191
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 03:08 PM

Phoenix?? I understand Touchy was already taken. Darn!

Subject: RE: BS: NYC: More civilized than I thought!
From: Peace
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 03:22 PM

All that and alliteration, too . . . .

Subject: RE: BS: NYC: More civilized than I thought!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 03:52 PM

Most social customs are pretty arbitrary, but they exercise surprising power over people's minds. You have to keep that in mind when you go against them. The cops who arrested her probably were unaware of the 1992 state appeals court ruling, given that it is surely not tested very often on the streets of New York. ;-)

So they were no doubt under the impression they were doing "the right thing" in arresting her.

You would never find chimps arresting anyone over something like that.

Subject: RE: BS: NYC: More civilized than I thought!
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 03:57 PM

$2,416.67 per hour - not bad!

Subject: RE: BS: NYC: More civilized than I thought!
From: SINSULL
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 04:07 PM

She ran the Marathon topless? Ouch! Visiona of chipped teeth and a fractured jaw.

Subject: RE: BS: NYC: More civilized than I thought!
From: JeremyC
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 04:11 PM

Link to story, for skeptics (I thought it was fake, myself, but there it is).

Subject: RE: BS: NYC: More civilized than I thought!
From: Peace
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 04:21 PM

Interesting.

"NEW YORK (AP) -- A woman arrested for exposing her breasts has accepted a $29,000 settlement from the city, her lawyer said."

I find the language somewhat slanted in the opening paragraph of the news article. She did not 'expose her breasts'. Her breasts were exposed. It's a difference of implication.

I would have written, "A woman arrested for having her breasts exposed . . .".

Just from idle curiousity: was she breast feeding at the time?

Subject: RE: BS: NYC: More civilized than I thought!
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 04:37 PM

No, she'd have been awarded more for that!

Subject: RE: BS: NYC: More civilized than I thought!
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 09:54 PM

Well, they could have come up with a better headline...

"EXPOSED BREAST ARREST SETTLED!"

"TAT FOR TIT!"

etc.

Charley Ignoble

Subject: RE: BS: NYC: More civilized than I thought!
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 10:23 PM

"You would never find chimps arresting anyone over something like that." -

No - but if you violate the social customs in chimp society, I'm sure they let you know pretty quickly. They have pretty big teeth.

Subject: RE: BS: NYC: More civilized than I thought!
From: Mickey191
Date: 18 Jun 07 - 10:50 PM

eanjay, you're right--and the price of milk is going up.

She must have very small boobs--Cause that would hurt if she ran even just a few miles with a B cup. C or D she'd knock herself out.

I think the cops just enjoyed the view. Probably called their buddies in for a look see.