Ocean City topless ban not a violation, Md. AG's office says

Months after an opinion was requested, the Maryland Attorney General's Office has weighed in on the question of female toplessness in what Ocean City officials count as a victory.

“It is our view that Maryland courts would hold that prohibiting women from exposing their breast in public while allowing men to do so under the same circumstances does not violate the federal or State Constitution,” reads a June 15 letter from the counsel of the Maryland Attorney General's Office. 

The letter to the Worcester County State's Attorney Beau Oglesby was signed by Sandra Benson Brantley, counsel to the General Assembly, and Adam D. Snyder, chief counsel, Opinions and Advice. 

Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan, who along with town council members passed an emergency ordinance banning female toplessness in public areas on Saturday, June 10, was delighted by the letter.

“We are pleased to see the Attorney General’s Office has advised that prohibiting topless women sunbathing is not a violation of equal protection,” Meehan said in a town release. “We have a responsibility to protect the rights of thousands of families who visit our beach and Boardwalk each summer season, and the letter of advice agreed with our position.”

Oglesby expressed his own satisfaction at the opinion, which incited heavy debate among town residents.

BACKGROUND:Ocean City bans female toplessness with emergency ordinance

“The Office of The Attorney General has provided me with a well-reasoned and comprehensive analysis of this legal question,” Oglesby said in the release. “This issue has statewide implications and unfortunately has created division and unrest in our community during our busiest time of the year.”

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Oglesby continued, saying he agreed with the Attorney General’s conclusions and that his office would continue to work with the town and the Ocean City Police Department as the issue develops further.

The letter mentions numerous court findings where the constitutionality of indecency statutes applied to topless women, but not men, on the grounds that there are “real physical differences” between men and women, and that the government has an interest in protecting “the moral sensibilities of that substantial segment of society” that does not want to be exposed to female toplessness.

Unless challenged in court, this likely ends the debate in Ocean City.

The topic of female toplessness began in August 2016, when Chelsea Covington, an Eastern Shore resident, sent a request to the Ocean City Police Department about going topless.

Her inquiry was forwarded to the Office of the Attorney General by Oglesby.

While awaiting a response from that office, the issue was reignited following a June 6 memo to the Ocean City Beach Patrol directing that complaints from beachgoers about bare-chested women be documented, but the women eliciting the complaint are not to be approached or engaged with.

The memo sparked a public debate that concluded, at least as far as the town was concerned, in an emergency session five days later when an ordinance was passed banning female toplessness with violators facing a fine of up to $1,000.

"Ocean City seems to feel that the Constitution does not apply to them, but a high court will decide," Covington said after the ordinance passed.

Meehan said the emergency ordinance was a response to “hundreds of calls and emails from residents and visitors, expressing their concerns over this issue.”