CA Court Rules On Peeing In Public

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MrsSpringsteen

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Just thought you would all want to know this, in case you visit/live in CA or just in your quest for important general knowledge :D

California court: Peeing in public illegal
It 'interferes with comfortable enjoyment of life and property'

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- 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," Kline continued.

The case involved David McDonald, who was detained after an Oakland police officer allegedly spotted him urinating in a Berkeley parking lot three years ago. The officer arrested McDonald and while searching him allegedly found cocaine in the suspect's pocket.

McDonald tried to have the cocaine evidence suppressed by arguing that because there was no law that specifically prohibited heeding nature's call, the officer did not have a reason to search him.

The motion was denied after prosecutors argued that public urination would violate both littering and public nuisance laws. McDonald was convicted and sentenced to drug treatment and probation.
 
i had a friend who was arrested for peeing in publinc once... we were leaving a bar and he decided to piss in the front parking lot. we saw the cop driving up the road and told him to stop, to which he responded with the dumb and dumber line "i can't stop once i start, it stings!" to which the cop pulled up and arrested him for disorderly conduct.

ahhh memories.
 
I knew a guy who got ticketed for peeing in public and several years later was trying to get a government security clearance for work. He was embarrassed to mention the incident. Bad move. He eventually did get the clearance, but he got dragged in front of a government interviewer and was required to tell about the incident in detail (how much detail could there be? :huh: ) and explain why he failed to disclose the incident in the first place. :)
 
indra said:
I knew a guy who got ticketed for peeing in public and several years later was trying to get a government security clearance for work. He was embarrassed to mention the incident. Bad move. He eventually did get the clearance, but he got dragged in front of a government interviewer and was required to tell about the incident in detail (how much detail could there be? :huh: ) and explain why he failed to disclose the incident in the first place. :)


Yikes that would be awkward and embarrassing

I wonder if GWB ever got a ticket for that :wink: or any Democrat just to be fair
 
While this case was a technical application of search and seizure law, the headline alone will drive some to challenge or codify its legality. Criminalizing public urination will be argued as a deprivation of rights for the homeless.
 
martha said:

So I can still pee in the desert when there's no can in sight?

If pee falls in the desert and no one hears it, does it make a sound? :wink:

And the people I see urinating in public the most are not homeless people, I've seen guys doing it at a track in the nearby woods, in a public park-places like that. But in cities I suppose that might become a legal issue for the homeless, because many cities lack public restrooms.
 
lol... I got caught by a cop doing this once, in a park near a suburban pub not far from my home. He just called me a dickhead, and made me promise I was on my way home, I told him I was. Of course I wasn't, I was on my way to a nearby party. About three hours later the police show up to the party after noise complaints. Two cops wander through the front door of the house. You can guess which cop was first through the door, and who he saw standing there in the hallway...
 
Earnie Shavers said:
lol... I got caught by a cop doing this once, in a park near a suburban pub not far from my home. He just called me a dickhead, and made me promise I was on my way home, I told him I was. Of course I wasn't, I was on my way to a nearby party. About three hours later the police show up to the party after noise complaints. Two cops wander through the front door of the house. You can guess which cop was first through the door, and who he saw standing there in the hallway...

Haha, I bet that was a deer in the headlights moment! :laugh:
 
Trust me, you don't want to have to show up in court for this one. I was in court last spring for an expired out-of-state car registration (I didn't get the renewal notice and it wasn't on my radar which I've learned is no excuse; you don't want to drive an unregistered car into the state of Arizona, especially when in your own state it only costs $35 to renew it :huh: ) and the Most Humiliated In Court Award definitely went to the very handsome, sexy, well-dressed man who was there for urinating in public. He had his charge read outloud three times and endured endless snickering from the teenagers who were there on the "cooler" charge of first time possession. Mr Urinating in Public and me, Ms Non-Moving Traffic Violation received the stiffest penalties. Dangerous offenses such as Criminal Speeding and DUI's got off the easiest. Love the criminal justice system. :up:
 
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