Next time if you are thinking about pulling a funny prank and decide to go streaking maybe you should think about the consequences first. Photo credit: Melissa Joseph
If you want to be funny, tell a joke. Don’t take your clothes off and sprint down the sidewalk and streets.
On a personal level, most sensible people wouldn’t want to expose their naked bodies to others in a public setting. If those dreams where you’re in school and somehow lose your pants is any indication, it doesn’t seem very enjoyable.
On a legal level, whatever reason a person can have for publicly running around naked is irrelevant in the eyes of the law. Since no one can stop a stupid person from doing stupid things except themselves, here is what will happen if a person is arrested for streaking.
Indecent Exposure
Streaking can leave you with a fun, little charge of indecent exposure. Penal Code 314 guarantees that a person who, “exposes his person, or the private parts, thereof, in any public place,” will be guilty of a misdemeanor offense.
Misdemeanor Consequences
A misdemeanor doesn’t sound like a big deal, but this is far from the truth. In California, according to California Penal Code 19, a misdemeanor is punishable up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine, or in especially unlucky cases, both.
Even after serving jail time and or paying a fine, a misdemeanor follows you around for years or even a lifetime under certain circumstances. While it is legal to get a misdemeanor expunged one year after conviction, this does not remove it from a criminal record but instead dismisses it, meaning you don’t actually get rid of it.
Sex Offender Consequences
A misdemeanor is the minimal possible charge. Indecent exposure to or near a minor will be charged as a sex crime and the person involved will have to register as a sex offender. In the California Senate Bill No. 384 the restrictions can fall anywhere between 5 years to an entire lifetime.
My Thoughts
Any future profession will be able to see these charges and it is not very common to hire a person with a criminal record or a sex offender. Not to mention, there are many other charges that could be brought up, I just chose the most likely charges to be found guilty for.
Going to jail can ruin many people psychologically and leave lasting scars, putting a strain on mental health and personal relationships.
Police reports and media will have the story up forever and the unlucky name will be synonymous with the incident. A recent example Julio Sotelo-Garcia (Hamilton City) from the Chico police arrest log.
So before deciding to do something like this, ask yourself, is this worth jail time?
Of course, that is a loaded, rhetorical and facetious question, but, people have gone to jail for dumber reasons.
Exercise is good for you, just remember to wear pants.
Gage Northcutt can be reached at opinioneditor@theorion.com or @GageNorthcutt on Twitter.