year-old city ordinance in Erie, Pa. was declared unconstitutional, restoring nude dancing to the city. The law banned public nudity and required exotic dancers to put on G-strings and pasties. \n The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the city did not have a compelling reason to forbid nudity in general. The decision overturned a ruling by a lower state court. \n In a unanimous opinion, the court said that just being nude is not protected by the First Amendment because no message is being expressed. However, nude dancing does express an erotic message and is therefore entitled to protection. \n Greg Karle, the unhappy city attorney, promised an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. \n The court said the city could argue that the anti-nudity ordinance is intended to prevent crimes such as rape and prostitution. The problem, however, is that the law is overly broad in what it prohibits. It is "highly circuitous to prevent rape, prostitution and other sex crimes by requiring a dancer in a legal establishment to wear pasties and a G-string before appearing on stage," the court said. \n It would make more sense to impose sanctions on the actual people who commit sex crimes, the decision said. That would be a more specific way of handling an area in which the government has an interest. \n "It's what I said all along," Bill Kuzmin, owner of nude dancing club Kandyland, told the Erie Morning News. "There is no difference between dancing and nude dancing. Nude dancing, per se, is an art. \n Even while the case wound its way through the courts, nude dancing remained a fixture at Kandyland. Kuzmin said he changed the format to a dinner theater to keep the nude show going. \n The state supreme court ruling does not affect other provisions of the city ordinance, including those that prohibit sexual intercourse, deviant sexual intercourse and the fondling of genitals in public.
All models were at least 18 years old at the time of their performance. 18 U.S.C. 2257 Record-Keeping Requirements Compliance Statement.
