Court strikes down strip club law

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Supreme Court struck down a state law Tuesday barring nude dancing and touching between strippers and customers.

The Supreme Court upheld a lower judge's ruling that the law was unconstitutional because the bill changed too much from its original purpose as it moved through the legislature.

The measure passed in 2005 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 three provisions regulating adult entertainment that were added to the fourth version of the bill during the next-to-last day of the session were not remotely within the original purpose of the bill, but rather constitute a textbook example of the legislative logrolling" that the constitutional provision is intended to prevent, the high court said in a unanimous opinion written by Supreme Court Judge Ronnie White.

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 of days before it was to kick in Aug. 28, 2005.

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 law, Sen. Matt Bartle, R-Lee's Summit, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday afternoon.

But he 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. Bartle already has proposed legislation to try again on that front during next year's legislative session.

An attorney for the Missouri Association of Club Executives, the adult entertainment industry group that challenged the law, said he expected this battle isn't over either.

"I don't think there's any doubt that Senator Bartle will try to introduce new legislation that will try to push forward his personal thoughts on what morality ought to be," Kansas City attorney Richard Bryant said.

The attorney general's office, which defended the law, noted the ruling doesn't address the heart of the matter.

"Today's ruling dealt with procedural rather than substantive issues. The General Assembly will have the opportunity to fix this," attorney general's spokesman John Fougere said.