No More Lap Dances from Sin City Strippers
A court has upheld a Las Vegas city regulation barring erotic dancers from raunchy physical contact with their customers, in a ruling that runs counter to the gambling city’s sinful reputation.
Nevada’s Supreme Court on Thursday reversed two lower court rulings that found the regulation improperly curtailed “expressive conduct” protected by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.
The high court judges said that even if the constitutional amendment did apply, its protection was not absolute, and added the city measure helps curtail prostitution, sexually transmitted disease, drug offenses and criminal activity.
The city rule bars dancers from physical contact of a sexual nature with customers. The decision echoes a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year that backed a California city’s regulation requiring at least two feet (0.7 metre) distance between erotic dancers and the audience.
– Good news in the Pacific Northwest though, as voters in Seattle took a different view this week, rejecting a measure on Tuesday that would require erotic dancers to stay at least four feet from patrons.
