DAYTONA BEACH — A Volusia County judge delayed ruling Monday on whether a topless activist disturbed the peace when she bared her breasts at a sparsely attended political protest.

Police arrested self-proclaimed top-free revolutionary Liz Book, an Ormond Beach stay-at-home mom, for disorderly conduct in July. Her protest of the city’s anti-nudity ordinance caused a “breach of the peace,” police said. Her bared breasts backed up seven cars in a “traffic jam” and caused several people to stop on the sidewalk, blocking the right of way, police said in an arrest report.

But Book’s attorney argued Monday that Daytona Beach police acted improperly when they arrested the 43-year-old activist outside Peabody Auditorium. Book’s nudity was protected because it was part of a political speech, Orlando attorney Lawrence Walters said.

“Free speech does not depend on peace and tranquility and fortunately, in this country, free speech can be noisy and disruptive,” Walters said.

Book’s speech next to four Grecian statues that are nude to the waist was part of her ongoing effort to allow women to go topless anywhere men can. The protest, which had been advertised several days in advance on local radio and in other media, attracted only a couple supporters.

Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Dunton argued Monday that the charge against Book should be upheld. Activists are entitled to deliver their message, Dunton said, “But there is no right to protest in any way you want.”

Book staged her first protest in March 2004 on the last day of Daytona’s raucous Bike Week, one of the city’s special events in which women often flash crowds of onlookers — and sometimes are fined for doing so.

Book also is awaiting a court ruling from that protest, which attracted about a dozen men and women, none of whom removed their tops. Book removed her shirt on the Main Street bridge and was quickly arrested for baring her breasts in violation of the city’s anti-nudity ordinance.

In July, Judge Beck ruled in Book’s favor on the alleged violation in 2004, throwing out the $253 fine, but the city appealed.

On Monday, Book’s mother attended the hearing. Barbara Kellison of Orlando said Book’s car had broken down, so she came to support her daughter.

“Women should have a choice if they believe as strongly as Liz does,” Kellison said. “Leave them be.”

Judge David Beck scheduled another hearing for Jan. 18 in the case of alleged disorderly conduct.

Book said she is hopeful she will prevail in both cases.

“I’m fighting to decriminalize our breasts because no man, city or state should see our breasts as a means of revenue,” Book said.