JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.—Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetem is set to decide whether a new law regulating adult business in the state will go into effect. The ruling is expected tomorrow, in response to a legal challenge by a group of gentlemen’s club and adult bookstore owners, whose attorneys have requested a temporary restraining order.
As AVN reported in May, the law prohibits full nudity and limits semi-nudity in sex-oriented businesses throughout the state, mandates that adult businesses close between midnight and 6 a.m/, and prohibits them from serving alcohol.
In the run-up to its passage, an ACLU representative, John Coffman, said the sweeping legislation seemed designed to drive adult businesses out of business. "At some point, the over-regulation of a business simply because you don't like that business or you don't like the content that's being viewed in those businesses would violate the First Amendment,” he said.
If Bettem allows the legislation to become law, some people in the state believe it will mean more people on the unemployment rolls.
"There is a business owner in my district who came to me and said, 'If this bill goes into effect without any changes, I have 140 employees that are going to be looking for work," Sen. Jolie Justus, a Kansas City Democrat, argued during debate in the Senate chamber in May, before the bill was successfully passed. "Tonight, we're going to kill an industry that brings in anywhere from $7 to $10 million in revenue ... we're going to kill small business tonight."
According to Ron Holliger, chief counsel for Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, the law meets all state and federal constitutional questions and should take effect.
One of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Raymond Vasvari, said the law needs to be placed on hold while the court determines the merits of the constitutional challenges.
"This is an industry that is tied to the tracks and is facing a runaway freight train,” he said.
According to St. Louis Post-Dispatch, without intervention by the court, the law should go into effect Aug. 28.
