Is it a Crime to Wear a Thong on the Beach in North Carolina?

(Author's note:  This post has been amended since its initial publication.) My kids spend lots of time during the summer at our local YMCA, where this day of the week is known as Wacky Wednesday. On Humpday, many of us at the School of Government think of a retired colleague who greeted everyone in the building with a “Happy Wonderful Wednesday!” Whether you deem today’s blog post wacky or wonderful--or just plain weird—it addresses a question that continues to cross the minds of many in the state and which was posed to me a few weeks ago. Fortunately, there is a clear answer.  (Spoiler alert:  If you’ve visited the beach lately, you likely know what it is.) The issue.  North Carolina’s indecent exposure statute generally prohibits a person from willfully exposing his or her private parts in any public place and in the presence of any other person. There is, of course, an exception that allows same sex exposure in public changing and locker rooms. Given that beaches are public places, thongs cannot be worn if they result in the exposure of a person’s private parts. There’s really not a more delicate way to state the issue than this:  Are buttocks private parts? The analysis. Somewhat surprisingly, the state supreme court addressed this very issue some years ago in the aptly captioned State v. Fly, 348 N.C. 556 (1998). Fly was charged with indecent exposure after a Charlotte woman climbing the steps to her condominium encountered him bent over at the [...]