Emptying one’s bladder in a public place is a crime, even if there is no specific law prohibiting the practice, a state appeals court ruled.
Ruling on an appeal brought by a Berkeley man who was charged with cocaine possession after an officer stopped him mid-pitstop, the Court of the Appeal for the Second District said Wednesday that public urination is a crime that justified the officer’s search of the man’s pockets.
“Urination on or near a busy commercial street interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of both life and property,” Presiding Justice J. Anthony Kline wrote in an opinion that concluded public peeing qualified as “a public nuisance.”
“The sight and smell of urine are vile and offensive, and those who use the public streets and sidewalks cannot be freely subjected to such unpleasantness.”
This required an appeal? Right!
The best wya to prevent public urination is to make available clean, safe, PUBLIC restrooms (ie, ones where you don’t have to go in and spend $30 on an unwanted meal to use them).
Any city that does not provide this basic necessity of civilization has no right arresting people for doing what they are compelled by nature to do.
Ever been to Amsterdam? They have public urinals on some street corners that pretty much amount to a wrapped hunk of metal that you walk between, around in a spiral and to the center. In the center there’s a drain in the sidewalk.
It keeps the pee out of people’s gardens, and works quite well. To declare that a thing is vile and horrid and therefore “against the law” by verbal arbitration on the spot is lame without offering a viable solution that makes most people happy. Here in New York City, the cries for public urinals have been heard for decades, but never once taken seriously.
So I pee in the subway occasionally. I freely admit it. Hey man, when you gotta go…
Aren’t those public bathrooms places to get *cough* some too? That would explain the reluctance of the NYC administration.
Though I’m against public urination, I’m in favor of peeing all over
Berkley CA and deficating on it too.
Aren’t those public bathrooms places to get *cough* some too?
🙂
Why does the name “George Michael” come to mind??
Steve-O is in SoooooooOOOoOo much trouble.
Eh…in NYC…you can freely pee on the sidewalk if you want too…
I’ve done it…sometimes I’ll go as far as walking and peeing at the same time while walking on the sidewalk, while swinging the piss left and right, getting every little crack that I walk by.
Is anybody getting mugged, raped, or murdered while the cops are writing tinkle tickets? I could see if you were pissing on somebody’s car or in front of kids or something, but this just doesn’t seem to be a real big problem to me…
The problem is that the few people that are being affected by this usually has the most say and actually make a big deal to government. When I say “people that are being affected,” I mean people that get the most annoyed. Obviously there are not going to be people on the other side of the coin making a fuss about how people should take a piss wherever they want in public.
Waste elimination is a natural body function. For a Court to simply state that this is illegal is an attempt to overturn natural laws with artificial laws. Would this same court suggest that anyone having halitosis should also be fined because someone else finds that offensive?
I also think the Court might want to take a look at the Fifth Amendment. The part that says:,
…nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;
and the tenth Amendment:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
This suggests that if there is no law then there is no crime.
Now, having said that, I don’t like waste eliminated on on the ground. Towns and cities should construct rest rooms in public locations.
As much as I want to, I won’t stray off topic about dog feces on sidewalks.
Replace piss with crap.
Now thats a story…
Where thier is beer people will be pissing all over the place!
This subject is a real pisser!
Exposing one self in public is the offense.
Its not cool to take a leak in a public place like the subway station or by someones front door. But a tree or a shrub the nitrogen in your urine is refreshing to the the wild life. Dogs do it! The worst is Pissing in the wind
If your planning a long trip by car you can always use a bottle.
Another pissing match!
The mark of the true New Yorker is the ability to find a public restroom at any time within a three block radius while in that city. They exist; you just have to be able to sense them.
My understanding is that the reason that no new ones are being built is that a restroom of new construction must comply with the ADA and so has to have a stall that is big enough to be used by an individual in a wheelchair. The problem is that such a stall is also large enough to sleep in.
If there is no law, then he should not have been convicted. It is well-settled, that the law should be such that a person should be reasonably apprised that a certain activity is illegal. Without there being a law, the police would have had no probable cause to arrest him and the underlying cocaine possession charge would be tossed. So, yes, it should be appealed. You are talking about someone’s life. If the police had wanted to charge him with something legitimate, then the search would have been legal.
We are a nation of laws. If we begin convicting people of things that are not against the law, then we begin to look like a totalitarian state. (I know, some of you already think we are.) The last time that I checked, government still had to prove their case. If that changes then we are no different than countries where the government charges and convicts citizens without trial.
No, the mark of a true New Yorker is the ability to find a *public place* at any time within a three block radius where we won’t get caught pissing.
They exist, you just have to be able to sense them.
And I’m not sure the ADA’s policies have anything to do with the lack of public bathrooms in New York. No one really minds building new places for people to sleep; there are thousands of homeless people in the subway every night sleeping, with more all the time. (until guiliani becomes president and outlaws homelessness for the entire country). It’s simply not seen as an issue—the sorts of people who can afford to live in Manhattan are generally the sorts of people who can afford to have their own bathrooms within it, and also can afford to be paying customers in establishments that allow customer use of their facilities.
Its a Crime to expose your self in public.
Its also a crime to spit, vomit, urinate, make a do do, etc. in public..
Are men serious here when they say it’s natural and ok to urinate in public. No wonder men have the name of being the rudest of the sexes between male and female.. How you feel taking your kids on a family day out and next thing a man walks by with his penis out taking a pee. Also what about even having your girlfriend with you, Do you really not mind her seeing another mans penis. Also, do you care if your mother sees it???
Men need to get a grip and learn to hold . If woman can do it so can men.. Jee i am ashamed to be a man, in the same classification of men.. branded by woman as digusting, foul people..
Men need to clean their acts up. And wise up.
if you cant hold it till your out of veiw of the public eye, go to the doctor as you must have a problem.
As for woman. They dont want to see it. As for moral men with dignity and pride, they too dont want to see it.
if you answered yes to not caring if your children see it, no wonder there are dirty perverts out there happy to show children their bits.
Also if you said you wouldn’t care if your girlfriend see’s it, maybe you should ask her next time, does she want to see it.
if both answers are no. then do something about it.. Its the people who it does affect that fight to get these men their toilets ( not like amsterdam ) but proper toilets