Déjà Vu of Nashville, Inc. is a business engaged “in the presentation of female performance dance entertainment to the consenting adult public.” More prosaically, Déjà Vu operates a strip club. That business, you will not be surprised to learn, has its detractors. After those detractors found themselves unable to prevent Déjà Vu from operating as a permitted use in downtown Nashville, they took aim at Déjà Vu’s planned valet service, which was to be operated by a third party. They succeeded in persuading the city to deny the permit application for that valet service. In return,
Continue Reading Tennessee District Court Dismisses Strip Club’s First Amendment Claim
Appeals Court Finds That Dallas Adult Convention Case Can Proceed
In October of this year, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an operator of an adult entertainment convention called “Exxxotica” had standing to challenge the City of Dallas, Texas’s 2016 decision not to enter into a contract allowing the event. The appeals court’s decision reversed a prior ruling by the federal district court dismissing the case.
In 2015, Three Expo Events, L.L.C., held the Exxxotica event at the Dallas Convention Center. The event, which featured near-nudity and a variety of suggestive activities, caught the attention of community members who believed that the event was immoral. These protesters then asked Dallas’s mayor to prohibit a second annual convention, and the mayor obliged. In 2016, the city refused to renew the event’s contract, and the city council approved a resolution prohibiting the same. Three Expo Events then filed suit, alleging First Amendment violations.
Because the city council’s resolution only prohibited Three Expo Events, and not its subsidiary—which would have been the party to the convention center contract—the district court found that Three Expo Events lacked standing to challenge the city’s decision.
Continue Reading Appeals Court Finds That Dallas Adult Convention Case Can Proceed
Preliminary Injunction Entered Against Louisiana Anti-Nudity Statute in First Amendment Case
Last month, the federal Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit invalidated a Louisiana statute prohibiting nude erotic dancing by 18 to 21-year-old women, finding that the law was too vague and thus violated the First Amendment. The law was passed by the Louisiana
In Case Involving a Gentlemen’s Playground and a Rocky Mount, Sexually Oriented Business Licensing Scheme is Found to (Mostly) Satisfy First Amendment Scrutiny
This post was authored by Otten Johnson summer associate Lindsay Lyda. Lindsay is a rising third-year law student at the University of Colorado Law School.
A few weeks ago, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s summary judgment
Indianapolis Prevails (Again) In Adult Business Case
Last month, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s denial of an adult business’s motion for preliminary injunction against Indianapolis. The appeals court found that the business, Hustler Hollywood (HH), was unlikely to prevail on the merits of its
Rocky Mountain Sign Law Goes to New York
This weekend (May 6th-9th, 2017) brings us to the American Planning American’s National Conference in New York City. Along with colleagues from around the country, we’ll be talking about everything land use and the First Amendment, from signs to adult businesses, religious land uses, and the public forum doctrine. If you’re planning to be at
Massachusetts Court Strikes Down Local Adult Business Regulations
Last week, a federal district court in Massachusetts accepted a nude dancing establishment’s argument that the City of Chelsea violated the First Amendment in denying a building permit for renovations to the business’s premises. In so doing, the court struck down the city’s adult business zoning regulations and directed the city to treat the establishment under other use classifications contained in the code.
Chelsea’s zoning code provides for several zoning districts, including industrial, highway business, shopping center, and retail commercial business districts. The code allows for an “art use”, defined as “the creation, manufacture or assemblage of visual art, including two or three dimensional works of fine art or craft, or other fine art objects created, manufactured or assembled for the purpose of sale, display, commission, consignment or trade by artists or artisans; or classes held for art instruction,” in the industrial district, and by special permit in the retail business and highway business districts. The code also allows for theater uses in the retail and shopping center districts, and adult entertainment uses in the highway commercial and shopping center districts. Adult entertainment uses and theater uses are not allowed in the industrial district.
Continue Reading Massachusetts Court Strikes Down Local Adult Business Regulations
Secondary Effects Doctrine Lives On in Fourth Circuit Decision
In an unpublished decision issued in late January, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Columbia, South Carolina regulation limiting the locations of adult businesses was a valid, content neutral regulation, applying what is commonly known as the “secondary effects” doctrine. That doctrine allows local governments to specially regulate adult businesses in a content neutral manner on the grounds that such regulations counter the secondary effects—such as crime, prostitution, and neighborhood blight—of such businesses.
In December 2011, an adult business—“Taboo”—opened the only adult business establishment in Columbia, a book and novelty store. That same month, Columbia enacted restrictions on adult businesses, including a 700-foot dispersal requirement from “sensitive” uses such as religious institutions, schools, parks, and residential uses, as well as a 1,000-foot dispersal requirement from other adult uses. The regulations allowed a two-year amortization period in which an adult business in one of the restricted areas could operate before being shut down. Taboo was located in one of the restricted areas, and continued to operate for the amortization period. At the end of the amortization period, Taboo sued the city under the First Amendment.
Continue Reading Secondary Effects Doctrine Lives On in Fourth Circuit Decision
Eleventh Circuit Finds That Adult Businesses Don’t Have a Fundamental Right to Privacy
Earlier this month, the 11th Circuit considered the constitutionality of an ordinance enacted in Sandy Springs, Georgia, which criminalizes the distribution of sexual devices. Although not a First Amendment case, we’re including a post on the case because the decision relates to a First Amendment-protected land use—adult businesses—and introduces an alternative constitutional theory for
Court Denies Adult Expo’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction; City’s Convention Center is a Limited Public Forum
In an opinion issued last month, a federal district court in Texas denied an event promoter’s request for a preliminary injunction to compel the City of Dallas to contract with the promoter for use of the Dallas Convention Center in connection with a three-day adult entertainment expo called “Exxxotica.”
The promoter contracted with the City to hold Exxxotica at the Convention Center in 2015. Prior to that event, the promoter had promised the City that no one under eighteen would be admitted to the event, sexual activities would be prohibited and no obscenity or public lewdness would be permitted. However, despite the promoter’s promises, the City had evidence, including video footage, of likely underage attendees and lewd conduct at the event.
Continue Reading Court Denies Adult Expo’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction; City’s Convention Center is a Limited Public Forum