Posted on 12/18/2007 3:20:17 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
AUSTIN — The state's new $5 surcharge for strip club visitors will not violate the clubs' First Amendment free speech rights, state officials argued in a court brief filed in advance of a court hearing.
The new fee, which was approved this year by the Texas Legislature, is set to take effect on Jan. 1. It's expected to raise about $44 million to be dispersed for sexual assault prevention programs and health care for the uninsured.
A state district judge was scheduled today to consider a request made by a group of strip clubs to delay the fee.
The Texas Entertainment Association and Karpod, Inc., the operator of an Amarillo club, sued Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Comptroller Susan Combs earlier this month.
The clubs say the fee would amount to an unconstitutional tax on nude dancing, a form of expression protected by the First Amendment. They also said the measure unfairly targets strip clubs, while not including modeling studios and adult video arcades.
"If the State has a compelling interest in assisting victims of sexual assault, that interest cannot be supported by taxing constitutionally protected speech based on content, even if the speech is nude entertainment that society may find offensive or disagreeable," the plaintiffs said in their lawsuit.
In a brief filed Monday, Abbott and Combs countered that the fee "does not prohibit nude dancing, does not dictate where live nude entertainment may be presented, does not require any minimum clothing and does not govern the physical setting for the activity."
If the judge agrees to delay the fee, it would open the door for the lawsuit to be considered in a trial.
Supporters decried the possibility that the funds generated by the fee could be withheld.
Annette Burrhus-Clay, executive director of the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, said the state lacks resources to keep up with the demand for sexual assault prevention, research, intervention and treatment for offenders.
"The issue for us is an apples-to-apples issue," said state Rep. Ellen Cohen, D-Houston, author of the bill that created the fee. "This is an industry that largely employs women. It's an opportunity to do something for crimes that largely affect women."
An attorney for the plaintiffs declined to comment. Abbott's office, which is representing the state, also declined to comment.
How big of you to call me names and run the heck away from my argument.
hahaha, Reagan signed a balanced Federal budget which year of his adminitration?
I think that all levels of government should be held to the same standard. Infringing on the rights of others is not acceptable, just because it was done by a local or state government. I do know of the legal restrictions that make it difficult to use zoning restrictions, however, I do know that here in Vegas the law is 1500 yeards from a school, nearly a mile away. This, combined with picketing and other measures by concerned citizens do most likely end the dreaded strip club problem.
Government isn’t there to assuage your sense of moral outrage, it’s there to protect rights. There are ways to deal with strip clubs without the coercive power of the state. The problem is that people don’t care enough to be down there picketing or doing anything that takes more effort than complaining to the Masters of the Universe, aka the State.
The property owner. (Unless you prefer a system where private property is abolished.)
You say I think that all levels of government should be held to the same standard.
Yet the U.S. Constitution states: Amendment 10: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."
This made me laugh my arse off, thanks: I do know that here in Vegas the law is 1500 yeards from a school, nearly a mile away. This, combined with picketing and other measures by concerned citizens do most likely end the dreaded strip club problem.
How well did this strategy work in Las Vegas?
In Texas that's about a week or two. We like our nudie bars as long as they are not too close to a church mind you.
So no government regulation would therefore be acceptable to you for any business? Property owners should be free to do whatever they please with their land without any restrictions what-so-ever? No zoning laws should therefore exist in America? Can’t have the people of a State placing any restrictions on property use of any kind in your America.
Well, obviously Vegas doesn’t care about strip clubs in the city, people just don’t want them across the street from schools. Were the population of a town so inclined, they could use a law like that combined with picketing to drive the strip clubs out of business, all without setting dangerous precedents infringing upon property rights. Vegas does not have a population that is so inclined.
I never said that the Constitution held all governments to the same standard. All governments should be held to the same standard by their people though, doesn’t matter if it’s Texas’s, Iowa’s, or Canada. I am not raising Constitutional issues here though, so have a good laugh over something I never said.
LOL
Yeah, I understand. It could be embarrassing to find yourself sitting next to the pastor.
Does the law specify that the fee be paid in sweaty, crumpled dollar bills?
I think in 2 bit quarters, Polonius!
To paraphrase someone else who posted on this thread....liberals and semi-socialists (only when it’s something they don’t like) posing as conservatives on FR are lower than street hookers.
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