The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled the front porch of a private residence is not a public place. The ruling comes in the case of a Patience Paye of Waterloo who was charged in 2013 with public intoxication after coming out onto her front porch to talk with police about a fight she had with her boyfriend. Paye appealed the conviction, saying her front steps were not a public place.

The Supreme Court had ruled 12 years ago that the front steps and common hallway of an apartment house are public places because access is required by everyone. In this ruling the justices say while people can use Paye’s front stairs to approach her home for limited purposes — like selling a product or to borrow a cup of sugar — allowing them to do so is not a general invitation to the public to use the steps.

The ruling also says if the front stairs of a single-family residence are always a public place, “it would be a crime to sit there calmly on a breezy summer day and sip a mojito, celebrate a professional achievement with a mixed drink of choice, or even baste meat on the grill with a bourbon-infused barbeque sauce.” The court reversed Paye’s public intoxication conviction.

(Radio Iowa)