One for the legal eagles

[muckefuck]

Last time we had ottr4bear and Rubeus over for dinner, we were discussing the new monstrosities across the street (one almost finished, another still in the planning stages) and a ticklish question came up: monshu has full-length windows in his living room. If he and I were having sex there--say if we hung up a sling right up against the window and went about banging each other in it morning, noon, and night...

Where was I? Oh, right--if we decided to go at it in plain view of the new neighbours across the way, is there a legal basis on which they could force us to desist? Rubeus seemed to think it might fall within the writ of nuisance legislation. Even if there wasn't sufficient basis to sue us for harm or damages, he thinks they could probably make our lives sufficiently hellish to dissuade us from doing it again. What do you think?

Comments

[sconstant.livejournal.com]

Looks (from a cursory websearch, this is not legal advice) like IL's public indecency law applies in "any place where the conduct may reasonably be expected to be viewed by others."

One would imagine that this doesn't mean in your house with a willing audience, but that it might applie to the new neighbors across the way.

Again, don't know if there are any court cases or other pertinent interpretations (e.g. statutory history) of this provision.

[lhn.livejournal.com]

What he said, and there are cases and committee comments that establish that you can be guilty of public indecency by being seen through an apartment window. "It is the probability of public view that is crucial rather than the ownership or use of the particular real estate upon which the act occurs. For example, a person standing nude before a lighted window of his private apartment at night, adjacent to a well traveled public sidewalk would be, for purposes of this statute, in a public place." People v. Legel 24 Ill.App.3d 554, 321 N.E.2d 164 (1974) (where a man who fondled himself while standing behind the sliding door in his dining room, viewable from his neighbor's living room, was found guilty of public indecency). Same result in a later case where a man was observed from the street or sidewalk at the window of his lighted second floor apartment.

Both, at least as described, were engaging in pretty flagrant exhibitionist behavior, so I'm guessing that a couple being accidentally viewable because they forgot to close the curtains or something would get off with a warning, unless someone had it in for them. But your scenario is probably another matter. (I'd guess it could probably also be pursued as a nuisance tort, but that's probably enough research for one day. :-) )

[lhn.livejournal.com]

D'oh! Make that "What she said," and let this remind me to click through to userinfo before assuming a pronoun. Not that it always helps, but in this case it would have.

(Of course, it also tells me that sconstant is 400 years old... :-) )

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

You know, there's more than an outside chance that the two of you have actually met in the flesh at some point. Talk amongst yourselves and sort that out, will you?

[danbearnyc.livejournal.com]

Of course there's the case last year involving students at Univ of Pennsylvania.

[strongaxe.livejournal.com]

This is just my uninformed opinion, but the rule of thumb I have always used is this - can they see you without technological aids (binoculars, telescopes, telephoto lenses, etc.)? Anyone who uses those to snoop on people is deliberately LOOKING for trouble.

For decades I lived in high rises where the only way my nearest across-the-way neighbours could see enough details to be offended is by using those, so I never bothered with curtains.