Jefferson City, MO β The Missouri Supreme Court Tuesday threw out, on a technicality, a law that bans nude dancing and touching between strippers and customers.
Justices upheld a lower judge's ruling that the law was unconstitutional because the bill changed too much from its original purpose. The court did not rule on whether the restrictions infringe on free-speech rights. The measure passed in as part of a broad bill that started out dealing with "intoxication-related traffic offenses," but in its final version the title was changed to "relating to crime. The law banned full nudity, required dancers to stay at least 10 feet from customers and behind a rail, barred dancers from touching customers, and required all dancers and customers to be at least 21 years old.
The law had never taken effect, because Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan ruled against it just a couple days before it was to kick in on Aug.
The law stated that the intent was to reduce the negative effects of adult businesses, such as crime and dropping property values, and attorneys defending the law said courts have allowed restrictions on adult entertainment to serve a government interest.
Because it determined the bill had an unconstitutional change of purpose, the court said it did not need to address the broader policy question of whether the restrictions infringe on free-speech rights. The sponsor of the original bill, Sen. Matt Bartle, R-Lee's Summit, could propose new legislation that focuses on the strip club restrictions, opening the potential for another court battle over First Amendment rights. A few months ago, a federal appeals court threw out another Bartle effort that bans sexually suggestive billboards along Missouri highways as an unconstitutional regulation of commercial speech.
