Woman cited for ‘indecent exposure’ over festival crop top wins case: ‘All of my bits are covered’
A woman who was cited for wearing shorts and a crop top at a music festival had her "indecent exposure" ticket dropped after one year of legal battle.
Casey LaCaze-Lachney attended a festival in downtown Winnfield, Louisiana, with her family wearing a black cropped T-shirt and denim shorts when she was handed over a ticket by three women police officers.
She then detailed the incident on TikTok in a video that received over eight million views and prompted public outrage.
"You see my outfit,” she said in the video. “I got a f***ing ticket for indecent exposure in Winnfield, Louisiana…All of my bits are covered.”
She noted that while in attendance at what was supposed to be considered a family event, “alcohol was being handed out for free”.
Ms LaCaze-Lachney emphasised in the video’s caption that she didn’t understand why she got ticketed, writing: ‘MAKE IT MAKE SENSE.”
As the video went viral, the Winnfield police department on 15 June 2022 posted an explanation of the Winnfield city ordinance on Facebook without referring to Ms LaCaze-Lachney by name.
The ordinance stated: "It shall be unlawful for any person to wear pants, trousers, shorts, skirts, dresses, or skorts in any public place or places open to the public which either intentionally exposes undergarments or intentionally exposes any portion of the pubic hair, cleft of buttocks, or genitals."
Her case was taken up by attorney Randall T Hayes, who believed that the citation issued to Ms LaCaze-Lachney had no legal basis.
A year later, she won the lawsuit.
"After a year of back and forth and dealing with pushback from the city every step of the way, we finally came to an agreement," Ms LaCaze-Lachney told The Shreveport Times.
"The city of Winnfield will be dropping my 'indecent exposure' ticket and they will be responsible for arranging for it to be expunged from my record completely."
She added that the city officials have agreed to re-evaluate the ordinance and will be taken up for discussion at the next city council meeting.
In a TikTok video posted last month, Ms LaCaze-Lachney said while she considered this a "win" she still doesn't have an explanation as to why this happened to her.
