MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Independent video store Video Culture has joined 21 Up Movies & More in a lawsuit against the city of Murfreesboro for violating the businesses' constitutional rights.
The city originally filed a lawsuit against 21 Up owner Raymond Vincent Bohannon in February, claiming that his business was operating illegally, due to its location in a commercial area. Bohannon then countersued in May.
According to a report by the Murfreesboro Post, motions were filed in Rutherford County Circuit Court this week asking the court to allow Video Culture — which specializes in hard-to-find and foreign films — to enter the suit. Both stores are now suing for monetary damages, as well as for the right to remain open and keep their current inventories, which includes adult titles.
No court date has been set in the case.
Video Culture, which was classified as an "adults-only bookstore" after a recent inspection by the Planning Commission, is also located in a commercial district.
Shelley Justiss, Video Culture owner, told the Murfreesboro Post that she was shocked that her business was being referred to as an "adults-only bookstore," as only two percent of her store's inventory was classified as adult-oriented.
The counter-lawsuit claims that the city of Murfreesboro does not clearly define what constitutes an "adults-only bookstore" in its adult ordinance, which was amended and passed in September. It also calls the new ordinance "arbitrary" and "unduly restrictive."
According to the report, the amended ordinance states that "adult-oriented businesses are those where books, magazines, films or other merchandise that depicts or describes a form of sexual conduct or nudity make up more than 20 percent of the floor area or more than 20 percent of the inventory by either units or value or more than 20 percent of revenues or a total inventory of more than 200 units of all such items."
The suit claims that Video Culture, which has been in business for 12 years, is a victim of "selective enforcement" by the city, and should be grandfathered in, rather than comply with the new ordinance.
Nearby Knoxville's adult ordinance was deemed "unconstitutionally vague" by the Tennessee Supreme Court in June 2005.
Legal
- By
