KEY POINTS

  • A Utah judge denies a challenge from a woman after she was charged for being topless inside her own home
  • Tilli Buchanan said that the state's lewdness statute was unconstitutional 
  • Her lawyers argued that the law "discriminates women" by making it illegal to show their breasts

A Utah judge defended the state's lewdness law when it was challenged by a woman who is facing criminal charges after she exposed her breasts in front of her stepchildren.

Third District Judge Kara Pettit denied the motion of Tilli Buchanan in her effort to declare the lewdness statute unconstitutional, said the Salt Lake Tribune.

Buchanan's attorneys, Randy Richards and Leah Farrell of the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, argued that the law “targets and discriminates women” by making it illegal for them to show their breasts.

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Judge allows woman to testify at her murder trial. In this photo, the courtroom inside the Centre County Courthouse sits empty, on June 17, 2012 in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. Getty Images / Mark Wilson

As part of their argument, the legal counsels cited a recent 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling where the appeals court agreed with two female “Free the Nipple Fort Collins” members who sued the city following their belief that the ban “violated their rights to equal protection,” according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Both lawyers said that Buchanan's husband, who also took off his shirt after installing insulation in their garage, was not charged despite the fact that his three children saw them topless at the time.

“The ordinance did not include any exposure that was unlawful for a male, did not require the presence of children, and most importantly, did not require any specific intent,” said Pettit, through Fox 13.

Buchanan could face up to 10 years in prison and be forced to register as a sex offender should she be convicted, said Fox News.

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