Tag Archives: Topic: SOB Regulation

In evaluating the adequacy of alternative channels of communication when deciding an as-applied constitutional challenge to the State’s statute limiting the places where sexually-oriented businesses may operate, trial courts are not precluded from considering the existence of sites that are located outside of New Jersey but that are found within the relevant market area as defined by the parties’ experts.

Business Week: An ordinance that would require porn actors to wear condoms during film shoots was tentatively approved by the City Council on Tuesday. The council voted 11-1 for the proposal.

State Journal: Three West Virginia delegates are introducing a bill that would limit the activities of “sexually oriented businesses” in West Virginia.

Bradenton, FL Patch: The revised land development code bans liquor service at topless bars and enables code enforcement officers to issue citations.

The Washington Post: The state Division of Gaming Enforcement ruled Friday that it would be OK to have a strip club inside the Taj Mahal Casino Resort. It would be Atlantic City’s first so-called “gentlemen’s club” inside a casino in the 33-year history of legalized gambling here.

CBS St. Louis: A Missouri city is fighting back against an adult sex-shop by not turning on the store’s water as the owner takes his case against the town to federal court.

AP: Indiana political leaders are looking to fast-track sex-trafficking legislation before football fans flood Indianapolis for the Super Bowl.

Businessweek: “You can’t just trump the law by saying a naked dancer’s erotic message is protected by free speech,” said Scott Bergthold, a Chattanooga, Tennessee, attorney who helps municipalities craft and defend adult-business regulations. “We’re dealing with cases where cities are outlawing touching between naked dancers and customers that involve prostitution acts and she’s coming in with these opinions. It’s ridiculous.”

(AP) Boston.com: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has ordered an “extensive and thorough review” of a foreign exchange program that has been used by U.S. businesses as a source of cheap labor and exploited by criminals to import women to work in the sex industry.

Western Courier: Macomb’s City Council quickly introduced, discussed and unanimously passed Ordinance No. 11-36, a set of licensing regulations for “sexually oriented business activities.”

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Los Angeles v. Alameda Books Nos. 11-245, 11-379. Document related to that litigation, the 9th Circuit opinion, and a summary of the issues involved can be found at SCOTUS Blog here.

More information at the Legal Scholarship Blog: Sex Trafficking in the U.S.: Researching Vulnerable Populations – Corvallis, OR.

Missouri families won a major victory today in our state courts. The Missouri Supreme Court, in a unanimous ruling, upheld the state’s new law regulating sexually oriented businesses

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento County supervisors approved an emergency ordinance Wednesday prohibiting any new adult-related businesses in the county’s unincorporated areas.

Northwest Herald: Just to be clear, no speakeasies, dance halls or more-than-massage parlors have voiced interest in calling Johnsburg home. Despite this lack of interest, Johnsburg’s Village Board has taken the opportunity to freshen up its adult entertainment ordinance . . .

Connecticut Post: The item, introduced by Councilman Robert Walsh, D-132, in May, would have required “sexually oriented” establishments to obtain annual licenses.

The Orange County Register: The city plans to remove churches from the types of uses that would bar an adult business from one of three zones in the city.

News from The Associated Press: Police may put the brakes on a party bus that was apparently operating as a Sunday strip club for reveling Lions fans at a popular tailgating spot in Detroit.

WNEM TV 5: According to the Saginaw News, township officials voted Monday night in favor of expanding the number of spots available for these types of commercial businesses.

The Expositor – Sparta Tennessee News: Sparta officials have taken the first step in regulating adult oriented businesses by passing a lengthy ordinance that covers all aspects of the operations of these establishments.

OneNewsNow.com: A three-judge panel of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld an Ohio law that regulates sexually-oriented businesses.

AP: Misty Umphries, a mother who waits at the stop with her children, says she had to explain to her 4-year-old the meaning of “topless.”

KansasCity.com: That leaves the Missouri Supreme Court as the last hope for adult business owners, who argue the restrictions — which prohibit nudity and limit hours of operation for seminude establishments, among other things — have unconstitutionally devastated their industry.

Laura J. Lederer at Public Discourse: A culture of exploitation and violence, especially sexual exploitation of children, is at epidemic levels here in the United States and around the world. The current Administration’s response is anemic and more must be done.

LaTimes.com: The strongly worded statement issued Wednesday by the Canoga Park-based Free Speech Coalition came in response to complaints filed by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation with federal and Florida state health officials after the disclosure that an adult film performer tested HIV-positive.

AP: n adult film performer has tested positive for HIV, causing porn producers to shut down shoots in Southern California as the diagnosis is confirmed through re-testing, according to an industry group.

KOB.com: Monday night, Albuquerque city councilors heard and rejected an appeal from Defined Fitness who said having The Palms Gentleman’s Club next to them violated city ordinance. The two businesses share a parking lot. The argument revolved around Defined Fitness’ claim their daycare is actually a school and city ordinance clearly states adult businesses are not allowed near schools.

E.B.S. Enterprises v. City of El Paso, No. 8-10-00088-CV (Tx. Ct. App. Aug. 10, 2011)

News and Tribune: After months of researching ways to strengthen the Greenville adult entertainment laws, the town council voted 4-0 on July 18 in favor of the new ordinance.

TheUnion.com: On Tuesday, Supervisors are being asked by staff to extend a moratorium against adult businesses until September 2012, while county planners work on a draft to regulate the currently non-existent adult industry in Nevada County.

CBS St. Louis: A group of opponents is preparing to circulate a petition to amend the city’s ordinance on adult-oriented businesses. Their proposal would create a tighter definition of pornography and change the law’s definition of an adult business.

Jacksonville.com: Two Jacksonville nude dance clubs are running out of ways to stay at their current locations. This year, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that zoning and municipal codes approved by City Council in 2005 and 2010 legally allowed the city to evict the Doll House on Atlantic Boulevard and the New Solid Gold Club on Blanding Boulevard. Lawyers for the two clubs asked for a rehearing on some issues, but the court refused

Chicago Sun-Times: For 18 years, the city of Chicago has been trying to shut down what’s now known as VIP’s A Gentlemen’s Club, whose politically connected owner, Perry Mandera, boasts that he runs “Chicago’s only full liquor & topless bar.”

Washington Times: People aboard a party bus shot at after leaving a Northeast strip club last week were earlier involved in a fight at the club — the latest in a series of incidents there that include a stripper being hit in the face with a champagne bottle during a tussle between a patron and the entourage of rapper Lil’ Wayne, according to police reports.

KansasCity.com: Kansas City Star reporters recently observed more than a dozen female dancers at Bazooka’s and Temptations whose entire breasts were visible. Although state law allows such “semi-nude” exposure, clubs that “regularly” offer it must close at midnight.

Teresa L. Watson, Adult Entertainment And Zoning: A Starting Point For Adopting Or Updating Adult Business Ordinances, 80-APR J. Kan. B.A. 30 (Apr. 2011)

One News Now: “Earlier in the month the Kansas House overwhelmingly approved restrictions on strip clubs, adult video stores, and other sexually oriented businesses. The Community Defense Act (H.B. 2107) would prohibit new sexually oriented businesses within 1,000 feet of a school, library, daycare center, or house of worship.”

KBND.com: “A proposal in the Oregon Legislature would send a question to voters: should communities be able to zone neighborhoods to block strip clubs and adult businesses?”

AP: “Oregon lawmakers are considering asking voters to roll back the state’s free speech protections to allow regulation of strip clubs.”

Topeka Capitol Journal: “The Senate Republican leadership won’t invite a vote on a bill dramatically escalating state regulation of adult entertainment businesses in Kansas, the chamber’s president said Thursday. Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, said the House-passed bill had not been warmly received because it would likely force closure of many of the targeted businesses.”

KLFY.com: “The Rapides Parish Police Jury has enacted a stricter definition of what constitutes a sexually oriented business.”

NY.Curbed.com: In angry letters to the State Liquor Authority from the Greenwich Village Little League and Downtown Little League, according to The Villager. The problem, say the letters, is that kids on their way to practice at Pier 40 will be traumatized by “sexualized ‘red light district’ imagery, rowdy partygoers and alcohol consumption

Lake Norman WBTV: “Developer Terrell Hinson has presented a proposal to build an adult club along Oates Road, behind the Fat Boy’s restaurant.”

Tulsa World: An Ottawa County strip club remains open despite the arrest of its owner on several alcohol and nudity complaints.

Columbian.com: “King County Superior Court Judge Suzanne Barnett on Friday granted an order sought by city attorneys who say the club violates a zoning buffer because it’s within 200 feet of a school, child care center, community center and park.”

Beaverton Valley Times: “A pair of resolutions introduced to the Oregon Legislature would alter the state constitution to allow local governments to more easily regulate where adult entertainment businesses can locate. Oregon’s Constitution includes a strong protection for freedom of expression — stronger than the federal First Amendment protections — language that has been repeatedly interpreted to protect the rights of adult businesses in zoning fights with cities and counties.”

ChristianConcern.com: “Christians in Oxford are celebrating after their local authority rejected a licence application for a “sexual entertainment venue” to operate yards from a church. Members of St Ebbe’s Church in Oxford as well as local residents have praised the Council for its decision.”

Williston Herald: “An ordinance that would govern where adult entertainment businesses could be located was tabled a second time Tuesday by the Williston City Commission.”

Breitbart (AP): “U.S. Sen. Harry Reid took aim at the world’s oldest profession Tuesday, telling state lawmakers the time has come to have an adult conversation about Nevada’s legal sex trade if the state hopes to succeed in the 21st century.”

AP: “The court on Tuesday refused to hear an appeal from two newspaper companies, the American Civil Liberties Union and a Nye County brothel called the Shady Lady Ranch.”

Blog of the Legal Times: In Legend Night Club v. Miller, [No. 09-1540] the panel majority affirmed a permanent injunction against enforcement of the law that was imposed in 2009 by a federal district court . . . The law limits the range of permissible conduct, attire and entertainment at establishments licensed to serve alcoholic beverages . . . Writing for the panel majority, Judge James Wynn said, “The statute imposes restrictions that extend well beyond strip clubs and other establishments primarily offering adult entertainment.”

MyCentralJersey.com: “The Township Council has given a $20,000 contract to Red Bank consulting firm Heyer, Gruel & Associates to study the township’s master plan and zoning districts to determine where in the township so-called sexually oriented businesses could be located and whether zoning laws would pass muster in court.”

One News Now: “In the last half-dozen years, the area’s 175 sexually-oriented businesses have been reduced to 63.”

KC Star: “A lawsuit challenging new restrictions on adult businesses in Missouri was thrown out last week, but club and bookstore owners will appeal, their attorney said Thursday.”

Citizen Link: “Several years ago, Louisville, Ky., was home to 175 sexually oriented businesses — one of the highest concentrations in the country. Last year, the number had fallen to 63. And starting Tuesday, it could drop even lower.”

Peek-a-Boo Lounge of Bradenton v. Manatee County, Fla, No. 09-16438., 2011 WL 182819 (11th Cir. Jan. 21, 2011)

Washington Times: “A controversial strip club in Northeast Washington is operating with a liquor license reserved in 2007 for a blighted warehouse property owned by a convicted drug kingpin who at the time was receiving city funds to renovate the site as a job-training center for ex-offenders, records show.”

Westlaw News and Insights: “The 9th Circuit has reversed a lower court’s ruling that a Los Angeles ordinance prohibiting combined adult retail and arcade establishments violated the First Amendment. The court of appeals said the bookstore and arcade that brought the suit did not offer enough evidence to show that the city’s ordinance was unconstitutional.”

Alameda Books Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, No. 09-55367 (9th Cir. Jan. 28, 2011)

KING 5: “The Seattle City Attorney’s Office requested Thursday that the King County Superior Court close the ‘adult cabaret’ club Jiggles because it violates building and zoning codes.”

KNDO: “City of Yakima has ‘been served,’ according to the attorney representing a businessman who wants to open up a strip club in Yakima.”

Dallas Morning News: “When the newest Rick’s Cabaret gentleman’s club opens south of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport tonight, the girls — as they say in the adult entertainment business — will be wearing nothing but their smiles. Local officials and businesses, though, will be wearing everything but theirs. Fort Worth and Tarrant County politicians, airport officials and nearby businesses aren’t pleased that a strip club is opening just outside the airport.”

The Patriot-News: “Earlier this month, Derry Township officials found themselves considering a legal challenge when the owner of Shane’s City Limits sought to revive his business by having scantily-clad dancers shimmy for customers several nights a week . . . The Shane’s incident was unusual not only because of the novelty . . . but because cases involving adult establishments have quieted in the past decade.”

CBS Local: “A new Rick’s Cabaret is about to open near the South entrance to DFW International Airport . . . The new strip club is trying to get a liquor license from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Prominent Tarrant County leaders, including County Judge Glen Whitley, are protesting the permit.”

Orange County Register: “City Council on Tuesday established a temporary moratorium on adult businesses while it evaluates if and where these businesses could be located in the eastern part of the city, following a recent rezoning of about 800 acres of land – once under the flight path of the El Toro MCAS – from business-park to residential and commercial.”

Post-Dispatch: “City officials have denied an appeal to allow the Pure Pleasure Boutique to obtain licenses to operate, one of the store’s owners said Monday.”

Orange County Register: “The City Council on Tuesday will consider an interim ordinance establishing a moratorium on permits for adult businesses following the rezoning of land from business park to homes and commercial uses.”

KTKA ABC 49: “The owners of the Oasis were trying to be annexed by the city. Meriden has no zoning that would restrict operation of an Adult Entertainment Establishment. When the City declined to annex, they fell under County zoning rules, and had to apply for a permit.”

Courthouse News Service: “Three strip clubs challenge the constitutionality of a Fort Worth law that demands that sexually oriented businesses be painted in a single ‘achromatic’ color with a single ‘achromatic’ trim, ‘both colors consisting of a neutral earth tone color only.’”

WLTX: “Officials in Washington state report the year-old rule against nearly-nude coffee servers is a success. After complaints about too-bare baristas, city and county officials in the Everett-area adopted regulations requiring a license to run an ‘adult-business’ coffee stand.”

Lebanon Daily News: “The Commonwealth Court has refused the city of Pittsburgh’s request to overturn a county judge’s approval of a strip club in the city’s West End neighborhood.”

Associated Press: “A man started shooting inside a strip club, killing two people and wounding two others, including a topless dancer, before patrons wrestled the gunman to the floor, police said Monday.”

OneNewsNow: “A California porn industry health clinic has shut down in response to an adult film performer who tested positive for HIV . . . ‘The best solution to the problem of sexually transmitted diseases in the adult entertainment industry would be to close it down altogether,’ the Morality in Media president suggests.”

KSWT: “San Luis has approved regulations for adult stores that might set up shop in the southern Arizona community.”

Mooresville Tribune: “The town board on Monday opted to support the planning board’s recommendation for a more restrictive proximity requirement, or ‘separation distance,’ despite suggestions from planning staff that the tougher restriction might open the town to a legal challenge.”

SCNow.com: “The Hartsville Planning Commission voted to send an ordinance to regulate adult businesses to Hartsville City Council with recommendation and also voted to recommend that council adopt a new ordinance on nuisances related to unkempt or overgrown lots.”