Court Victory for Dallas Dance Hall

Don't mess with Texas and especially not with the dance halls in Dallas. That was the lesson learned by Dallas officials after a state appeals court struck down a law that gave the chief of police the power to close dance halls for up to 30 days.\n Three years ago, the Dallas police chief used a city law to suspend for five days the license of Fare West, which features striptease shows. The law lets the police chief close down a dance hall for up to a month if the owner can't manage the hall in a peaceful and law abiding manner.\n At the time, Fare West appealed the suspension to the city permit and license appeal board, which reduced the time but allowed the suspension to stand. Later, a trial court struck down the ordinance but the city appealed.\n In its ruling, the Texas Court of Appeals said the Dallas law was too subjective and gave the police chief too much discretion. That much power given to the police chief poses too great a risk that officials will outlaw conduct that is actually permitted by the First Amendment, the court said.\n Overall, the court pinned its decision on the notion that the law was so vague it denied due process to dance hall operators.