Mooning in Maryland, the first stage

If this ruling is upheld in higher courts, we'll just have to scratch Maryland off our list of scenic places we'd like to visit.

Acquitting a Germantown man who exposed his buttocks during an argument with a neighbor, a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge ruled yesterday that mooning, while distasteful, is not illegal in Maryland.

"If exposure of half of the buttock constituted indecent exposure, any woman wearing a thong at the beach at Ocean City would be guilty," Judge John W. Debelius III said after the bench trial, reversing the ruling of a District Court judge.

Debelius made clear his disdain for the defendant, calling the alleged act "disgusting" and "demeaning." The outcome could have been different, he suggested, if the man had been on trial for "being a jerk."

Except that even in Maryland there is no law - yet - for being a jerk. (No doubt the United Nations is planning on imposing anti-jerk laws worldwide any day now.)

Seriously there's something about this decision that rings one's inner bell of common sense. Our view is that mooning is one of those actions that brings more derision and scorn upon the mooner than the moonee. It's like you are saying, "Hey, lookit this! This is where I keep my brain!"

While there might be debate as to whether chronic mooners should be allowed to reproduce, it seems silly to put them in jail, although if they let their freak flag fly in that manner while incarcerated, they may find themselves way too popular.