Rex Eustice, Jr. won't be opening this city's first adult bookstore, but he will continue running it as a video store. A new ordinance has closed the Nashville man's plan to open the bookstore, and he's withdrawn his bid for a permit from Coffee County. The new law requires that adult businesses locate in industrial zones, but Gifts and Books' current location isn't industry. Eustice instead will continue selling adult videos but he'll make it less than half his stock, thus meeting state law. Assistant Coffee County District Attorney Steve Weitzman told the Nashville Tennessean his office has a duty to respect First Amendment rights, "but we will fight tooth and nail to keep (adult businesses) out. Every issue will be enforced to the nth degree."
ST. LOUIS - St. Louis County isn't violating the First Amendment with zoning and licensing laws covering adult business locations, says a state appeals court. A 1995 law requires adult businesses not to locate within a thousand feet of churches, schools, or parks, or within three hundred feet of residential zones. The county sued the parent company of California Erotic Novelties, claiming the shop was too close to a church. The parent, BAP, filed a counter-suit accusing the county's zoning law of infringing on First Amendment rights. Citing Supreme Court precedent, the state appeals court ruled the St. Louis County ordinances are content-neutral, but BAP argued the county showed no evidence of "secondary effects." A BAP attorney says he'll take the case to the Supreme Court - which just upheld an Erie, Pa. anti-public nudity ordinance but left room for litigants to try compelling localities passing similar laws to prove secondary effects.
CLEARWATER, Fla. - They thought the strippers at Baby Doll's were long gone, but they're back - sort of. The club has re-opened with "bikini dancers." City ordinances are supposed to limit erotic entertainment, but city officials tell the St. Petersburg Times bikini dancing doesn't exactly count as full-tilt adult entertainment. Baby Doll's new owner, Michael Caruso, says he plans to keep the club abiding by those rules.
--- Compiled by Humphrey Pennyworth
