Will Honolulu Make Body Odor a Crime?

trbdavies writes "The Honolulu Advertiser reports that the Honolulu City Council is considering a bill to make it illegal to 'bring onto transit property odors that unreasonably disturb others or interfere with their use of the transit system, whether such odors arise from one's person, clothes, articles, accompanying animal or any other source.' So if you stink up the bus, you could 'be fined up to $500, spend up to six months in jail, or be both fined and jailed.' Councilman Rod Tam explains, 'As we become more inundated with people from all over the world, their way of taking care of their health is different. Some people, quite frankly, do not take a bath every day and therefore they may be offensive in terms of their odor.' The ACLU is predictably 'concerned about laws that are inherently vague, where a reasonable person cannot know what conduct is prohibited.' Is this country becoming Singapore?"

Comments

Wait a minute..

[FlickieStrife]

I know B.O is generally considered a bad thing, but isn't something like

odors that unreasonably disturb others

kind of subjective?

Re:Wait a minute..

[bill_mcgonigle]

Perfume disturbs me. Really, it gives me a headache. Patchuli(sp?), musk, and imitation rose are the worst.

Re:Wait a minute..

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a buddy with a rare medical condition that makes him stink. I know he's probably the exception, but to end up in jail or fined for being smelly seems a little unreasonable. Perhaps the penalty should be some personal hygiene classes.