US Supreme Court declines to hear topless ban challenge

OCEAN CITY, Md. (AP) — Keep those tops on in Ocean City, ladies.

The Daily Record reports that the U.S. Supreme Court declined Tuesday to hear a challenge of the Maryland beach town’s 2017 ordinance banning topless sunbathing by women, while allowing men to go bare-chested. The justices let stand the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in August that Ocean City’s gender-based prohibition is constitutional because it is “substantially related to the important governmental interest in protecting the public sensibilities of Ocean City.” Five women sued Ocean City in 2018, arguing they had the right to appear topless in public like men.

Ocean City’s attorney, Bruce F. Bright, says the town is “pleased with this latest and final judicial ruling.”

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