A judge has dismissed a case against two New Hampshire women ticketed for going topless at a town beach, a case that led to a Facebook spat among legislators about a bill that would make it a misdemeanor for women to expose their nipples in public.
Heidi Lilley and Barbara MacKinnon are associated with the rise of the national "Free the Nipple" movement. Police said they violated an ordinance last September in Gilford that prohibits women from going topless.
A judge said as there's no state law that prohibits the exposure of the female breast in public, the town lacked authority for a criminal prosecution that's neither prohibited by the criminal code nor by statute.
When Republican legislators sponsored their bill, a female Democratic lawmaker spoke out about it and was attacked by two bill supporters. The exchange went viral.
