In Florida, can you lay out in the sun naked in your own backyard?
People in South Florida often get tanned. Some people think that wearing nothing at all is the best way to spend a day in the sun.
There are a lot of people in party suits sunbathing in Miami. One of the few beaches in South Florida where you don’t have to wear clothes is Haulover, which is just north of Bal Harbour.
What if you don’t want to visit the beach? Can you lay out in the sun naked in your own backyard or on the patio of your apartment?
Know this:
Can you leave everything at home?
In Florida, it’s against the law to show your “sexual organs” or be naked in public or on someone else’s private property “in a vulgar or indecent manner.”“ Also, being naked “so close to such private premises as to be seen from such private premises” is against the law.
Juror instructions from The Florida State Bar Association stated that in order to prove that an individual engaged in “unlawful exposure of sexual organs” while tanning naked on their property, prosecutors would have to show all five of the following:
- The individual was nude.
- It was visible from a private property owned by someone else.
- It was “vulgar, indecent, lewd, or lascivious” to be nude.
- The individual “intended” for their nudity to be interpreted as “vulgar, indecent, lewd, or lascivious.”
- At least one person expressed offense due to the nudity.
Additionally, the jury instructions provide that a person cannot be found guilty based solely on “proof of mere nudity.” It also provides various synonyms for “vulgar,” such as sensuous, lustful, and wicked.
Accordingly, the state would still have to show that you meant to offend someone by being nude, even if they witness you tanning on your property and are outraged by it.
Brett Schwartz, a founding partner of Hager & Schwartz and a criminal defense attorney in Miami, stated, “It’s subjective.” “To each their own, vulgarity means different things.”
According to Schwartz, “you can probably do whatever you want, unless you were intentionally trying to be vulgar,” if you’re on your own land.
What’s the deal with indecent exposure punishment?
In Florida, the first crime of “indecent exposure” is classified as a first-degree misdemeanor, carrying a maximum fine of $1,000 and a maximum sentence of one year in jail. A second infraction of the statute is penalized as a third-degree felony, which carries a maximum $5,000 fine and a maximum five-year jail sentence.
Therefore, even though it’s a gray area, you are probably safe from the law if you want to undress on your condo balcony.
It might be best to just go over to Haulover to be safe.