ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A federal judge has ruled against a strip-club owner, permanently prohibiting contact between dancers and patrons in Anchorage strip clubs that cater to people under the age of 21.
According to a recent report, two years ago the city passed a new law restricting said clubs, including prohibiting direct contact with dancers, as well as requiring clubs that have over and under 21 sections to fully separate them, including from view.
The owners of one of the clubs affected by the new law - Fantasies - resisted and appealed the ordinance, claiming it imposed on the first amendment rights of the dancers.
According to a KTUU report, Carol Hartman, co-owner of Fantasies, said the ruling will put the club out of business.
“In the Assembly's quasi-judicial setting, those persons testifying during ‘public testimony’ do not have to swear to tell the truth, and therefore can stand before the assembly body, and the public, and make any statements or accusations they feel like making, even if they are unsubstantiated, hearsay, or total lies,” said Hartman in a statement. This is neither fair, nor just in my opinion, and it will adversely affect many lives.”
The restrictions will go into effect immediately.
“If this is the kind of business that they operate, so much the better for the community if they are going out of business,” Assemblyman Allan Tesche, told KTUU.
