How close, Arizona officials ask, is too close, when it comes to patrons viewing topless dancers. And just where (and by what) do customers not object to being touched during a lap dance? And why on earth are they asking these questions in the first place? Easy: Arizona's laws on topless clubs are said to be that vague - and they're also the focus of a Federal lawsuit.
The Arizona Republic says state investigators are having fits over just those issues while trying to enforce such vague laws. State Department of Liquor Licenses and Control director Howard Adams says the solution is a new law which would keep the erotic dancers off the customers' tables and laps and keep them on the stages.
Adams tells the Republic, "Having trained investigators spend their time trying to decide if a dancer is too close to a patron, if he is touching her where he shouldn't be touching her, or if she is touching him where she shouldn't be touching him, is absurd. We need a clear, concise statute that is enforceable."
A year ago, an attorney for four Arizona topless clubs sued in federal court against Adams and the state. That motion for a preliminary injunction will be heard in January. It contends nude dancing is protected by the First Amendment.
"The regulations they try to enforce are ridiculously written," says Richard O'Neill, who owns three of the clubs, to the Republic. "They're vague and can be interpreted by anyone in any way."
Adams also says lap dancing can trigger prostitution and health risks, with lax enforcement "opening the door for drug dealing and the presence of organized crime." O'Neill insists his dancers never get too close, even lap dancing.
"Why doesn't Mr. Adams go to any nightclub in town and watch the people slow dancing at the end of the evening," O'Neill asks the Republic. "Then he'd really see something!"
