Pretty on Top v. City of Hardin

On the afternoon of September 18, 1973, Hardin City patrolman Harvey Kern observed three men sitting in a truck behind the Big Horn Bar in Hardin, Montana. They were passing a bottle from one person to another. Patrolman Kern watched the men for approximately fifteen minutes before one of the men got out of the truck and left the scene. The patrolman then approached the vehicle and informed the occupants of the city ordinance which prohibited public possession of an open bottle containing an alcoholic beverage. After informing the men of their rights, patrolman Kern *313arrested them and took…