Georgia Supreme Court Considers Whether Nude Dancing at Strip Clubs Is a Protected Right (original) (raw)

The city of Doraville, Georgia recently prohibited strip clubs from selling alcohol if the clubs also feature nude performers. If booze is served, the strippers must wear g-strings and pasties. During oral argument yesterday, the Georgia Supreme Court considered whether this regulation violates the state constitution. Mark Niesse of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the story:

Alan Begner, an attorney for Oasis [Goodtime Emporium], said the city was ruining the club's business model.

"It would go out of business and die," he said. "I think that's unfair when they haven't done anything wrong."

But Scott Bergthold, an attorney for Doraville, said nude dancing in a sexually oriented business isn't protected under the Georgia Constitution.

"The historical records of the Georgia Constitution don't support a claimed right to nude dancing," he said.

Read the whole story here.

Back in April 2014, Reason TV profiled "the provocative—and nudity-filled!—play Arguendo," which dramatized a 1991 U.S. Supreme Court decision which said that the federal Constitution does not prevent local governments from banning nude dancing at strip clubs. Click below to watch.