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The Man Behind Most New Strip Club Laws or Proposals

joker44

In the wind

Just read post on Oregon SC regulation proposal.

No matter which local or state doofus introduces these proposed regulations here's the SOB who wrote the template on which these proposals most likely are modeled. Here's the guy who, for a hefty fee, will fly to your state or city to testify in support. Here's the guy who provides all those scary stories about the corruption and degradation lurking in SCs. Here's the guy who cites 'scientific evidence' of the morally corrupting influence of SCs on every area of community life.

Below I've quoted a section about this atty from a June, 2010 article [from a local KCMO alternative rag called The Pitch] that appeared after passage of the MO SC Law but before it took effect.

The rest of the article provides more local color and background about the impact of the MO law, especially how the appearance of bribery and a state legislator's over-the-top sexual kink opened the door for the bill's successful passage. [file under ‘mistakes were made']

The full article is entitled: “The anti-boobies bill of Missouri Sen. Matt Bartle strikes closer to home than he knows” The title refers to the fact that a distant relative of the former senator responsible for bill works as a bartender in a strip club. It's since become known as the “Exit Boobies” article. Here's a link to the full article:

http://www.pitch.com/2010-06-24/news/bar…

And here's the relevant section:

“Legislation like [MO's Strip Club Law] has been introduced in Kansas, Tennessee, Colorado, Minnesota, Kentucky, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Georgia and Florida. It has failed in all of those statehouses except Ohio's, where a variation finally passed in 2007 without restrictions on nudity or alcohol sales but with a mandated midnight closing time. [Ohio TUSCLers please comment]

The man responsible for the template is Scott Bergthold, a lawyer in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Bergthold didn't return The Pitch's calls, but his practice, according to his web site, is the "nation's only law firm focused exclusively on drafting and defense of municipal adult business regulations." He has made a lot of money closing small businesses, and his history suggests how much Missouri might have to pour into a courtroom fight. City officials in Johns Creek, Georgia, paid Bergthold $238,000 ($250 an hour) to litigate its attempt to shut down the city's sole adult business, a video and novelty store called the Love Shack. Including fees paid to another firm, the effort ate up more than a third of Johns Creek's annual legal budget.

Bergthold is nothing if not thorough. He drafts his rules to cover every inch of a business, including sales percentages, zoning and the amount of floor space taken up by dirty movies and rubber assholes.

As recently as this week [June, 2010], Bergthold told The Wall Street Journal that Missouri's legislation was on solid constitutional ground. But he has said that before and been wrong. Five years ago, Sioux City, Iowa, shelled out more than half a million dollars to an adult bookstore after hired-gun Bergthold failed to put it out of business. According to court records, "Because of the City's ill-conceived, illegal, and unconstitutional actions in targeting and attempting to trample the plaintiff's First Amendment rights, the taxpayers have already paid dearly, to the tune of over $600,000."

That's pocket change to the people who are paid to fight the adult industry. Besides his law practice, Bergthold runs the Alliance Defense Fund, a nonprofit that defends the legislation he has written when the adult industry mounts lawsuits against it. Last year, Bergthold's group counted $30 million in donations. Because of the ADF's 501(c)3 status, it doesn't have to disclose who donated the money.

Bergthold has also been the executive director and general counsel of the National Family Legal Foundation, testifying around the country about the perceived negative effects of strip joints. The group now calls itself the Community Defense Council and is funded by donations from Bergthold's ADF. Every link in his long, incestuous chain of anti-porn groups stands to make money off a protracted legal fight over breasts in the Show Me State.”

Notice that, win or lose, this SOB profits. What an altruistic humanitarian!!!