When we think of Boulder, we think of beautiful hiking trails, football hooligans and trust-fund hippies. After all, Boulder prides itself on being free and open, which is why the annual Halloween streak through downtown has become so popular -- popular enough that during the '08 version, police arrested several people running through Boulder, naked but for their shoes and pumpkins protecting their faces from identification. Those spirited sprinters are now facing charges of public indecency, which could result in sex-offender status for some of them.
Are such punishments for the playful nudists fair or unfair? Tonight, the ACLU of Colorado is hosting "Naked in Boulder," a panel discussion featuring the varied opinions of Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett, ACLU legal director Mark Silverstein and Denver attorney Andy Schmidt, who is representing one of the illustrious Naked Pumpkin Runners. They'll bat around ideas about First Amendment rights and public nudity as a protected expression, a symbol of protest -- or just plain wrong on so many levels. The discussion begins at 8 p.m. at the University of Colorado at Boulder, in room 204 of the Wolf Law School building. It's free and open to the public. For information, call 303-442-3535 or visit www.aclu-co.org/events/upcomingevents.htm.
For more ways to rock the night and kill the day, visit westword.com/calendar.
