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With
2.3
million
people
behind
bars,
the
United
States
has
the
highest
incarceration
rate
in
the
world,
far
ahead
of
communist
China,Russia
and
Iran.
Three
jurisdictions
in
Florida
—
the
city
of
Jacksonville
and
Polk
and
Pinellas
counties
—
rank
in
the
top
10
for
highest
incarceration
rates
in
the
United
States,
according
to
a
recent
report
by
the
Justice
Policy
Institute.
But
all
of
those
caged
people
are
apparently
not
enough
for
Florida
Rep.William
D.
Snyder,who
has
proposed
House
Bill
801.
Titled
“Lewdness
and
Indecent
Exposure,”
the
bill’s
draconian
penalties
would
be
yet
another
step
toward
the
full
establishment
of
the
Gulag
America.
If
Snyder’s
bill
is
passed,
anyone
arrested
for
engaging
in
sexual
conduct
in
a
public
park
or
on
a
public
beach
could
face
felony
charges.
In
fact,
the
bill
makes
it
a
felony
to
engage
in
"unnatural
or
lascivious
acts"
with
another
person
in
or
within
1,000
feet
of
a
public
park,
a
public
beach,
a
community
center,
a
child-
care
facility
or
a
school.
Engaging
in
sexual
conduct
in
a
park
are
on
a
beach
is
currently
a
misdemeanor.
The
bill
does
not
define
"unnatural
and
lascivious,"
so
one
wonders
whether
two
guys
kissing
in
a
park
or
holding
hands
would
be
considered
"unnatural."
The
bill
also
makes
no
stipulation
about
children
having
to
be
present
in
the
area
of
the
offense
in
order
for
a
felony
charge
to
be
leveled.
I
have
made
it
clear
several
times
in
this
column
that
I
think
people
who
have
sex
in
the
bushes
in
public
parks
are
engaging
in
tasteless
and
infantile
behavior.
Some
of
you
may
think
it's
a
good
idea
to
enhance
penalties
for
such
behavior
to
deter
it.
But
there
are
many
problems
with
this
bill
—
as
well
as
with
the
enforcement
of
"
lewd
and
lascivious
laws"
with
so-called
"sting"
operations
—
that
should
sound
alarm
bells
not
only
in
the
gay
community
but
for
anyone
who
cares
about
protecting
the
rights
of
innocent
people
to
be
free
from
harassment
and
the
threat
of
false
arrest.
First
of
all,
we
have
seen
numerous
times
that
it
is
not
necessary
to
actually
engage
in
any
sexual
behavior
to
fall
prey
to
these
laws
and
sting
operations.
For
example,
a
Boca
Raton
priest
was
arrested
in
a
park
restroom
in
North
Carolina
last
September
for
simply
asking
a
man,who
turned
out
to
be
an
undercover
officer,
to
go
home
with
him
and
have
sex.
The
priest,
whom
I
won't
name
because
he
has
been
embarrassed
enough,was
charged
with
"soliciting
for
a
crime
against
nature"
and
he
lost
his
job.
In
a
more
recent
example
that
hits
closer
to
home,
Patrick
Neptune,
a
freelance
photographer,
told
the
New
Times
that
he
was
stalked
and
terrorized
by
gun-wielding
Fort
Lauderdale
police
officers
on
Feb.
22.
According
to
Neptune,
his
"crime"
was
that
he
had
decided
to
go
to
the
beach
in
the
wee
hours
of
the
morning
to
photograph
a
sunrise.He
was
waiting
outside
his
car
for
the
sun
to
rise
when
a
black
sports
car
with
an
undercover
office
spotted
him
and
apparently
assumed
that
he
was
at
the
beach
cruising
for
gay
sex.
Neptune
told
the
New
Times
that
the
black
sports
car
followed
him
to
a
BP
gas
station,where
a
bearded
undercover
officer
got
out
of
the
car
and
pointed
a
gun
at
him.
Other
officers
in
a
marked
car
joined
the
bearded
officer,
and
the
bearded
officer
asked
Neptune
if
he
was
out
"cruising
for
cock,"
according
to
Neptune.
He
was
not
arrested,
but
Neptune
has
filed
a
complaint
against
the
Fort
Lauderdale
Police
Department.
And
who
can
forget
the
situation
at
John
Lloyd
Park
a
few
years
ago
when
numerous
gay
men
came
forward
and
reported
being
harassed,
cited
for
dubious
trespassing
violations
and
falsely
arrested
during
a
crackdown
on
sexual
activity
in
the
park.
One
gay
man
was
charged
with
“indecent
exposure”
for
wearing
a
white
bathing
suit
that
a
park
officer
thought
was
not
opaque
enough.He
was
acquitted
of
the
charge.
Another
gay
man,
who
had
read
newspaper
articles
about
the
alleged
police
harassment,
was
arrested
for
simply
stating
to
an
undercover
officer,
“Watch
out.
They’re
arresting
someone
over
there.”
He
is
currently
suing
the
state
for
false
arrest.
There
is
often
no
surveillance
tape
of
an
incident
in
a
remote
area
such
as
a
park
and
no
corroborating
witnesses.
It
is
often
just
the
word
of
an
undercover
officer
claiming
that
a
park
patron
came
on
to
him.
But
possibly
the
most
compelling
reason
to
kill
HB
801
is
that
public
sex
is
not
an
increasing
problem;
the
police
data
show
it
is,
in
fact,
a
diminishing
phenomenon
as
more
gay
men
seek
anonymous
encounters
through
internet
chat
rooms
and
at
bathhouses.
As
it
was
originally
written,
Snyder's
bill
would
have
also
made
it
a
felony
to
expose
one's
sexual
organs
—
or
to
be
naked
—
in,
or
within
1,000
feet,
of
a
park,
public
beach,
school
or
day-
care
center.But
he
has
apparently
agreed
to
amend
the
bill
and
remove
the
"indecent
exposure"
section
after
being
pressured
by
naturist
groups
and
others
who
fought
to
protect
Haulover
Beach,
where
nude
sunbathing
is
permitted,
from
Snyder's
body
phobia.
I
have
often
wondered
why
these
rightwing
people
think
it's
a
healthy
thing
to
teach
people
to
be
ashamed
of
their
bodies.
Why
is
something
...
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