I’ll Have What She’s Having: Leading Atheist Arrested For Making Sexual Noises

We previously saw how police charged atheist activist Ellen Beth Wachs, 48, with unauthorized practice of law after she confronted local politicians over prayer at public meetings. Now, Wachs (the legal coordinator for the Atheists of Florida) has been arrested with a sexual performance in the presence of a child. The police, however, admit that no one saw any sexual act. Rather, she is accused of making sexual noises.

Police say that Wachs had asked a neighbor’s 10-year-old son to stop playing basketball early in the morning because she felt sick and the noise was bothering her. The boy stopped but a few minutes later he reportedly started again — with his Dad. They then say that they heard “moaning noises of a sexual nature” coming from her house. Deputies arrived and arrested her.

Atheists are objecting that this is a pattern of harassment by local officials directed at Wachs while police insist, while no one has been charged for sexual noises before, they have brought this charge in other cases. It turns out that making basketball noises is not a crime.

This could lead to an interesting first amendment claim as to why some noises are allowed while others are criminalized. This is akin to criminalizing swearing in public where the sounds themselves are considered profanity. I personally believe that Captain & Tennille’s Muskrat Love is highly disturbing. While a crime against art and society, it is not a crime. Seriously, the question is where is the line drawn on “sexual noises” under the criminal code?

We have seen a woman arrested for broadcasting porn near a school, but not the claim of sexual noises.

What is clear is that Meg Ryan should stay clear of Florida. In Florida, it turns out that “what she’s having” is a criminal felony charge:

Source: ABC

Jonathan Turley

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