Mar

24

Supreme Court to Hear Oral Arguments on Adult Entertainment Fee

Filed Under Announcement | By   | Leave a Comment

The Supreme Court of Texas will hear oral arguments regarding the adult entertainment fee (Texas Entertainment Association, Inc. and Karpod, Inc. vs. Susan Combs, Comptroller of The State of Texas and Greg Abbott, Attorney General ) at St. Mary’s School of Law in San Antonio on Thursday, March 25. The proceedings are open to the public and will also be broadcast live on the web at: http://www.stmarytx.edu/law/index.php?site=supremeCourtWebcasts.

The $5-per-patron fee, which the Legislature approved in 2007, applies to clubs that allow for live nude dancing and the consumption of alcohol.   In December of 2007, strip club owners filed suit to block the charge alleging the fee violates their constitutional right to free speech.

“This is an important case for the First Amendment, but not for the reasons the strip club industry would have you believe,” said Clay. “The Solicitor General of Texas, James Ho, has said it best:  ‘The first amendment protects freedom of speech, not the right to mix alcohol with public nudity.’ “

While two lower courts ultimately ruled in favor of the strip club owners, both rulings recognized made key findings in favor of the State.  In the state District Court ruling Judge Scott Jenkins said that the State of Texas provided, “persuasive trial evidence supporting a link between the business activity subject to the tax and the secondary effects addressed by the sexual assault program fund.”

While a three-judge panel of the Court found in favor of the plaintiffs (2-1), there was a strong and unapologetic dissenting opinion which demonstrates that debate on this issue is far from over.
Among other things, dissenting Justice Puryear concluded that:

A state has the right to ban the consumption of alcohol within strip clubs;

And if a state has that right, it seems logical to assume that a state may impose a restriction that is less onerous than a complete ban, e.g. a modest fee, such as the adult entertainment fee.

Finally, Judge Puryear states, “I fail to see how the majority can conclude that the statute at issue violates the First Amendment.”

Arguments will be heard in the courtroom of the law classroom building beginning at 9 a.m. The adult entertainment fee is the third of three cases on the docket.  Each case will take about 40 minutes and the court takes a short (10 minute) break in between each case.

Share