Fulton wins ruling in effort to ban alcohol at strip clubs
samsung1
Ohio
The federal appeals court in Atlanta on Tuesday said Fulton County had presented ample evidence to justify an ordinance banning the sale, possession and consumption of alcohol at adult entertainment establishments.
The ordinance, passed in 2001, was challenged by strip club owners in a federal lawsuit that contended the law infringed on their free speech rights. A federal judge agreed, striking down the ordinance as unconstitutional.
But on Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal unanimously reversed that decision.
The county relied on "ample statistical, surveillance and anecdotal evidence" as well as testimony and studies to support its efforts to curb the negative secondary effects of alcohol and live nude dancing in the community, Judge Stanley Marcus wrote.
While the evidence has its limitations, Marcus said, "it certainly creates a vivid image of a county in which strip clubs that served alcohol played a prominent and unwelcome role. Sex and drug crimes occurred in and around the clubs and the neighborhood's cheap hotels, and required law enforcement and the judiciary (the juvenile court, at least) to invest resources in combating the secondary effects."
The 11th Circuit sent the case back to a federal judge, instructing him to rule on other challenges raised by the clubs in their lawsuit.
The ordinance, passed in 2001, was challenged by strip club owners in a federal lawsuit that contended the law infringed on their free speech rights. A federal judge agreed, striking down the ordinance as unconstitutional.
But on Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal unanimously reversed that decision.
The county relied on "ample statistical, surveillance and anecdotal evidence" as well as testimony and studies to support its efforts to curb the negative secondary effects of alcohol and live nude dancing in the community, Judge Stanley Marcus wrote.
While the evidence has its limitations, Marcus said, "it certainly creates a vivid image of a county in which strip clubs that served alcohol played a prominent and unwelcome role. Sex and drug crimes occurred in and around the clubs and the neighborhood's cheap hotels, and required law enforcement and the judiciary (the juvenile court, at least) to invest resources in combating the secondary effects."
The 11th Circuit sent the case back to a federal judge, instructing him to rule on other challenges raised by the clubs in their lawsuit.
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6 comments
http://www.detnews.com/article/20100216/… .
IMHO, one is just as likely to see a strip club out literally in the middle of nowhere than it is to see a strip club in a so-called "high-crime" area. Strip clubs located in residencial areas appear to be a rarity though, for obvious reasons.
"He followed by saying that the strip club owners don't live in the city and their children don't have to walk by the businesses."
Ahhh, my favorite "it's for the children!" argument. What do these people think is going to happen?? Some kids are going to be innocently walking through a really run-down neighborhood (again, one that was likely run-down looong before the strip club got there) & some strippers are going to fall out onto the street where the kiddies will see (oh my gosh!) a titty!? Between TV, the Internet, movies, and heck...even the local lingerie ads in newspapers & magazines, kids have seen a lot more than they'll likely ever see out in front of a strip club.