DAYTONA BEACH — Attorneys for Lollipops Gentlemen’s Club said Thursday they will take their fight against the city’s anti-nudity ordinance to the U.S. Supreme Court.
At the same time, police are gearing up to crack down on strippers and their managers who break city ordinances.
The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals refused Wednesday to give Lollipops a rehearing in a case in which the court upheld the city’s nudity ordinance, overturning an earlier lower court judge’s ruling that it was unconstitutional.
“We’ve already prepared a jurisdictional brief for the U.S. Supreme Court,” said Brett Hartley, one of the attorneys representing Lollipops.
Assistant City Attorney Marie Hartman, who has handled the case for the city, said city lawyers are ready to take the fight to the country’s highest court. (source and complete article)
This case is the result of a battle that has been waging for years in Daytona Beach.
The City of Daytona is generally populated by very live-and-let-live libertarian types. A lot of bikers came down for Bike Week, and never went home. That has created a social environment that may never attract much in the way of ballet or cappuccino, but if you want a nice cold beer, warm sun, and people who believe in keeping out of their neighbor’s business, Daytona is the place.
Unfortunately, the City is run by censorship minded lunatics. Determined to “clean up” Daytona, the City passed an overly restrictive adult entertainment ordinance with no regard for how much of the First Amendment it tore asunder in the process. The adult nightclubs fought back, and Judge Antoon issued one of the most articulate and well-reasoned First Amendment opinions that I have ever read. See Daytona Grand I.
Daytona appealed, and the 11th Circuit turned its own precedent and that of the Supreme Court on its head in Daytona Grand II.
The Petition for Certiorari is being drafted at this moment, and I’m not sure if I am excited or scared. The current Supreme Court has been extremely conservative and results-oriented. I can’t possibly imagine that the Plaintiffs will go into the Supreme Court any better than down 0-4. However, their attorneys are pretty damn brilliant, and the City of Daytona’s… well, lets just say that I have never been impressed with them.
Daytona Grand… the Constitution is in your hands….
