Is a nude violinist akin to a naked bicyclist? Federal civil rights suit says yes, seeks $1M
Arrested last year for playing the violin outside a federal courthouse in downtown Portland, Oregon, while naked, a suburban resident has now filed a civil rights lawsuit based, in part, on a claimed violation of his First Amendment rights.
Matthew Thomas Mglej, 25, seeks $1.1 million in damages in the federal lawsuit (PDF) he filed last week, apparently at the same federal courthouse outside which he’d been playing. It contends that police used excessive force last May when taking Mglej to a squad car after he refused to walk to the vehicle, and at a holding facility he was taken to, according to the Oregonian.
The Multnomah County sheriff’s office, the Portland Police Bureau and individual officers are among the defendants. In the filing, Mglej says that he arrived at the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse fully dressed in a “designer suit” with his service animal and several props–including a sign with quote by Thomas Jefferson reading: “The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave.” He then disrobed and began playing the violin. He reportedly also meditated and quoted famous individuals such as former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The article doesn’t include any comment from law enforcement, but says officers warned Mglej to get dressed or face arrest.
The grounds for Mglej’s arrest was violation of a city code provision that says it is illegal “for any person to expose his or her genitalia while in a public place or place visible from a public place, if the public place is open or available to persons of the opposite sex,” the newspaper reports. Mglej told police at the time that he believed the ordinance is unconstitutional.
He was charged with indecent exposure in a criminal case that is still ongoing.
The city is famous for its World Naked Bike Ride, in which some 8,000 people participate, notes the Associated Press. Police do not arrest participants in the bike ride, so long as they stick to the planned route.
See also:
ABAJournal.com (2008): “Oregon Biker Beats Rap for Naked Ride; ‘Symbolic Protest’ is Protected, Judge Says”
ABAJournal.com (2011): “PI Firm Sponsors Naked Bike Ride, Tells Participants ‘When You’re Naked, We’ve Got You Covered’”
Updated at 12:53 p.m. to add more details about Mglej’s protest.
