On 2009-09-01, the Keene Police Prosecutor, Eliezer Rivera, sent Cassidy a letter notifying her that they were dropping the charges against her for going topless in Keene as an act of civil disobedience against discriminatory indecent-exposure laws.

In a Keene Sentinel article published on 2009-09-08, the Keene police and prosecutor admitted that they had made a mistake when they charged Cassidy, agreeing that exposing one’s breasts isn’t “gross lewdness.” Keene police officer Lt. Jay U. Duguay explicitly admitted that the Keene Police Department wanted to avoid the possibility of a Supreme Court challenge to the law if Cassidy were convicted and appealed.

We’ll continue following this case and any future similar events that end up leading to charges.

On 2009-08-23, Cassidy Nicosia was arrested in Keene for going topless in public. She was charged with RSA 645:1, “Indecent Exposure and Lewdness.” This was a planned event to promote topless equality, following much discussion (1, 2) on the Free Keene forum, in which several men also went with no shirts. None of the men were arrested.

On 2009-09-01, charges were dropped by the prosecutor.