On September 30th, 1958, the Michigan Supreme Court, in a split vote of 4-3, handed down the
most momentous decision yet achieved in nudist history when it reversed
the lower court convictions of four people originally convicted of
“knowingly mailing open and indecent exposure of their persons” and were
sentenced to a fine and a term of jail.
With Justice Voelker writing the majority decision of the State Supreme Court which was quoted and carried by all wire services all over the country, and appeared in many newspapers and also which Time magazine (September 22nd, 1958 issue) carries also an article on this same decision, quoting Justice Voelker, who stated that, “the one big indecency in the whole case was the raid and the actions of the police officers in descending on the camp like storm troopers, herding them before clicking cameras and then hauling them away in police cars.” “If nudism is illegal,” Voelker is quoted as saying, “art galleries and museums would have to turn to the cultivation of fig leaves and that stalwart bane of middle-class respectability, the National Geographic Magazine, would have to be banished.”
The final irony of the case, according to Voelker, was when the warrant was sworn out, that one of the cops was “the aggrieved victim of indecent exposure.” “It seems that we are now prepared to burn down the house of constitutional safeguards in order to roast a few nudists. I will have none of it.”
Justice Voelker, who under the pen name of Robert Traver, has written the best selling “Anatomy of a Murder.”
In the decision it is plain that the rights of the people, under the
Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, are guaranteed and that no
police officer or attorney shall use or stretch or interpret these laws
to their own advantage.
However, Justice Voelker's decision left one opening which could be used, stating that, “any acts or steps against nudism should be done by the legislation, not by the courts.”
This decision, as such, along with the dropping of the Duram case in Michigan, Sunshine & Health victory in the U.S. Supreme Court and the recent American Nudist Leader victory in its customs case, point up that nudists as a whole or a group are entirely within their rights in living as they choose under the Constitution in their great country. There are always those who will continue to use nudism as their target and we may be forever warned.
However, Justice Voelker's decision left one opening which could be used, stating that, “any acts or steps against nudism should be done by the legislation, not by the courts.”
This decision, as such, along with the dropping of the Duram case in Michigan, Sunshine & Health victory in the U.S. Supreme Court and the recent American Nudist Leader victory in its customs case, point up that nudists as a whole or a group are entirely within their rights in living as they choose under the Constitution in their great country. There are always those who will continue to use nudism as their target and we may be forever warned.
We must keep a united front and not destroy our organization from
within and stand united in the defense of our beliefs against the
Sawyers and all others.
To the many who participated or took part in this Michigan case, in the name of the Association, we extend our sincere thanks and appreciation. To those actively working, we acknowledge a deep debt of gratitude.
To Leighton and Andrews for a well-handled representation of our interests, and to Gene Williams, for his brief, Harry Martin and Wally Heider for their invaluable help all the way through, to the Board of Trustees and officers of the Association who gave it all their support with the necessary Association legislation to make it possible to carry the case in the name of the people and to the many who gave, making it possible, I extend my sincere and earnest gratitude in the name of the organization.
To the many who participated or took part in this Michigan case, in the name of the Association, we extend our sincere thanks and appreciation. To those actively working, we acknowledge a deep debt of gratitude.
To Leighton and Andrews for a well-handled representation of our interests, and to Gene Williams, for his brief, Harry Martin and Wally Heider for their invaluable help all the way through, to the Board of Trustees and officers of the Association who gave it all their support with the necessary Association legislation to make it possible to carry the case in the name of the people and to the many who gave, making it possible, I extend my sincere and earnest gratitude in the name of the organization.
Bill Lecates
ASA President
ASA President
(Source: The Bulletin, Volume 7, Number 8, September, 1958)
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