Ruling Slows Down Establishment of Sex Shops
by AFA Journal and Jody Brown
August 16, 2004
(AgapePress) - The U.S. Supreme Court has spelled out the rights and obligations of municipalities in setting conditions for sexually oriented businesses in City of Littleton, Colorado, v. Z.J. Gifts.The Court ruled that communities had a constitutional right to establish ordinances restricting adult businesses. It also said such businesses did not have a right to "an unusually speedy judicial decision" after being denied a zoning permit.
According to Stephen M. Crampton, chief counsel for the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy (CLP), "This decision settles once and for all a municipality's right to impose reasonable restrictions on the operation of sexually oriented businesses without fear of costly First Amendment litigation over procedural technicalities."
Such a ruling actually slows down the establishment of sexually oriented businesses, Crampton said, because they often depend on the threat of legal action to intimidate cities. He said it also demonstrated that the CLP's 14-year-old model ordinance of regulating sexually oriented businesses is constitutionally sound.
The CLP, a legal arm of the American Family Association, is available to assist in drafting and defending ordinances such as this one. In fact, Michael DePrimo, senior litigation attorney for the CLP, is scheduled to meet next month with officials of a New York town where a citizens' group is lobbying against a proposed sexually oriented business.
According to the Finger Lake Times, the adult entertainment club Dominique's Showgirls would feature nude dancers at its proposed location in Newark, outside of Rochester. A group that wants to limit where such businesses can be located within the community convinced the town board to seek the CLP's legal advice before drafting an ordinance to do that.
DePrimo, who is set to meet with town officials September 14 and 15, reportedly has offered to customize an ordinance based on already-existing local and state laws -- and promises it would be defendable against any federal constitutional challenge. If the ordinance were to be challenged, the attorney says the CLP would defend it at no cost to the community.
A portion of this artilce appeared in the August 2004 issue of AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association.
