Ugly-Law Arrest Collapsed Over Definition

In 1974, Omaha police made America's last recorded arrest under an ugly law, one of several ordinances that barred people described as diseased, maimed, mutilated, or deformed from public view. An officer detained a homeless man because he had visible scars and marks across his body. Prosecutors filed no charges because the ordinance never defined ugly, making it impossible to prove the man's guilt. That same year, Chicago became the final U.S. city to repeal its ugly law.

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