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.
I know the Judge in Austin dismissed the Suit today, but I don’t know who the Judge was. Anybody know.
Texas is turning into New Jersey-it’s really sad.
I ummmm have never been there myself........toe in dirt looking down. Honestly ? Amarillo has the worst boobie bars in the world !
But then I was ruined as a career EOD troop assigned to inspect every titty bar around the globe in less than 24 years of active duty !
I tried.....lord knows I tried !.......:o)
On a scale of 1-10 I rate Amarillo’s Clubs a negative 12 on the scale. Went with a bunch I work with one night and never went back. Prettier ladies at the Rodeo’s anyway !
Nite !
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” C. S. Lewis
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
Sounds like C.S. Lewis was talking about you!
or a Huckabee supporter. God help us all!
wow, between their Viagra and this new surcharge, the perverts are going to be broke......LOL
There’s nothing in the Constitution about a $10,000 tax of people with the FR handle of Diplomat either. Does it make it right? Just where does this nany-state crap end?
For anybody out there who believes the money will end up where they say, I'm selling shares in the new Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Bay Bridge Tunnel.
“...work up a little righteous lust for the Mrs....”
You people with your fast lifestyles....I just don’t know, straight to hell, I suppose.
I never said you didn’t have the right. All I said was the state of Texas (or local community) has a right to tax you doing it.
I already pay 10s of thousands of dollars in INCOME taxes to support a HOST of program and people I do not want to support, yet do not get to opt out of paying said taxes. This is NO different. Thus, if I can transfer some of the tax burden to businesses that I do not want in my town, so be it. Nothing liberal at all. The gradiated tax code is completely unfair too.
Furthermore, I DO NOT WANT THESE BUSINESSES IN MY TOWN FOR MY OWN FAMILIES GOOD, NOT YOURS. I dont’t give a rip about the people who attend these businesses. They are all losers imo. Furthermore, your family is your concern, not mine. I do not feel I should in any way tell you how to raise your kids. However, I have no issue with local cummunities deciding what is best for their community. That is what America is supposed to be. I DON’T WANT THESE BUSINESSES IN MY TOWN BECAUSE I KNOW WHAT THEY DO TO THE COMMUNITIES IN WHICH THEY OPERATE. I’ve lived in it, have you? Go take your business (haha) to another town, or better yet, your own backyard.
The LOCAL community is supposed to be the one defining what is and what is not acceptable with regard to pornography and the like. You fools are insisting that the Federal government define it and define it as “nudy bars are acceptable EVERYWHERE.” You people are the liberals who supprted the denial of my local right to define what is decent and what is not with regard to pornography.
Note, I hold NO delusion that my side (the conservative, states rights, local rights side) will win, the other side has (the Feds and the liberals/democrats) already won in current case law. No thanks to dumb-ass faux conservatives who believe the Feds should decide for Texas and my local community what is or is not decent, what is or is not pornography. Sodomy is your consititutional right according to the U.S. Supreme Court. Why don’t you go open a business for that. Or better yet, why not have one of those bath-houses open up on your block? After all, who are you to tell me or tax me for exercising my right to be a pervert? Who are you to tell me I cannot have a homosexual bath-house business next to your home? Just where does this nany-state crap end?
I currently pay retirement for people who never earned it, I pay the medical bills for a majority of people who feel they are ENTITLED to free medical care and that someone else has to pay it. I pay the medical care for people who can afford it, but are too selfish to do so. Until SS, Medicaid and Medicare get disolved, IT WILL NEVER BE POSSIBLE TO END THE NANNY STATE. So lets keep this in perspective. And how about we respect the local decision of this Texas community. This issue should remain their decision, not yours or mine.
IT WILL NEVER BE POSSIBLE TO END THE NANNY STATE
So we should just let it be ever expanding? Are you really saying, if you can't beat em, join em?
At least when you get screwed by a strett hooker you enjoy it.
Fixed it for you.
Your Excess Uppercase Letters tax bill is in the mail.
Sorry, I misread your last paragraph, apologies. You we’re not saying what I thought you were.
That said, be it local, state, or federal, singling any group of people out for special taxes is wrong. There are other ways to deal with problems as they arise besides more taxes.
Of course you are NOT aware that this is NOT an option. Federaly decided case laws already dictates that you cannot do this. In otherwords, we cannot BAN these businesses. Believe me, we've tried (Simi Valley CA). We are left with the option of playing games with them by passing ordinances about location. This is what we are left with, telling them they cannot open a business like this within 100 feet of a school or a religious site.
Now let me ask you supposed conservatives ONE final question:
Who should ultimately decide what is best for a community, the local community, the state or the federal govenment, and in what order is precedence given with regard to nudy bars and pornography?
The whinny b.s. about the nanny state is a joke. It's a ruse to pretend that you are somehow protecting invidual rights when in reality all you are protecting is the Federal government's authority to decide everything for your local community.
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