Jenna Jameson is concerned that Scottsdale Mayor Mary Manross and the City Council may have been misled by “a hired gun for the religious right” who is trying to impose his beliefs on the city of Scottsdale.
Jameson is part owner of Babe’s Cabaret in Scottsdale that would be put out of business under a proposed change in city ordinances governing “sexually oriented businesses.”
Jameson said Manross used city funds to employ Scott Bergthold, “a well-known hired gun for the religious right to rewrite city laws and try to ram through an unconstitutional ordinance that would shut down a business that has been operating peacefully and legally for over 20 years in the same location.”
The Scottsdale City Council will vote Monday on the proposed ordinance change, which would bar serving alcoholic beverages at Babe’s. It also would force dancers - even if they are almost completely covered - to perform on an elevated stage no closer than six feet from patrons and it will effectively bar the lap dances that are a popular feature of adult nightclubs.
Bergthold is a Chattanooga attorney who drafts and defends municipal adult-business regulations around the country. He is said to be the director of the Community Defense Counsel, an organization reportedly sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal firm established by more than 30 Christian ministries to help defend “family values” and work against the American Civil Liberties Union.
Jameson issued the following statement:
“Mayor Manross and the council have been misled by a small but vocal group of moralists who want to impose their beliefs on the city of Scottsdale. City funds were used to employ a Tennessee lawyer named Scott Bergthold, a well-known hired gun for the religious right, to rewrite city laws and try to ram through an unconstitutional ordinance that would shut down a business that has been operating peacefully and legally for over 20 years in the same location. Bergthold’s proposal for Scottsdale is also in direct conflict with Arizona State law. Courts have rejected his narrow idea of free speech rights and inevitably his proposals will meet the same fate here, too. In embracing the Bergthold crusade, Mayor Manross has seized on my fame as an entertainer and author to launch a politically motivated campaign against strip clubs. We intend to fight this form of censorship to protect our First Amendment rights.
“Whatever their moral beliefs, I think most Americans cherish the knowledge that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects freedom of speech and expression when they are being practiced legally. Erotic dancing has been declared a legal form of artistic expression in court after court, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Whether you want to watch erotic dances or not is entirely up to you, but no one has the right to impose their own narrow moralism on the rest of us, and that is exactly what Mr. Bergthold is advising Mayor Manross to do. I urge everyone who cares about our freedoms to join me at Scottsdale City Hall on December 12th at 5 pm to show the City Council and the mayor that we care about the Constitution and we don’t want to be pushed around when it comes to our freedoms.”
