Protecting Main Street? The North Dakota Supreme Court Analyzes Whether an Ordinance Regulating Exotic Dancing and Adult Entertainment Violates Free Speech and Constitutes a Regulatory Taking
Leah Johnson Ellis, 84 N.D. L. Rev. 495 (2008)
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The Supreme Court has not extended First Amendment protection to obscene speech. Adult entertainment presents a unique challenge because it invokes moral, religious, and First Amendment responses. Even though nude dancing and similar non-pornographic adult entertainment have been held to be protected speech, the Supreme Court’s adult entertainment decisions have been fractured. Therefore, in order to understand whether the expression is obscenity, it is first necessary to review the history of the obscenity doctrine. Then, it is beneficial to address the development of the modern obscenity doctrine.
