The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a petition for an en banc rehearing (a review by the total court) of their 3-judge January decision in Gammoh v. City of La Habra, upholding La Habra’s 2003 ordinance requiring exotic dancers to keep at least two feet away from customers, the Associated Press reported.
Other communities – Los Angeles, for one – may now consider similar ordinances, according to AP. Jose Cornejo, chief of staff for L.A. Councilman Tony Cardenas, said they may consider reintroducing a similar ban proposed in late 2003 but dropped because of opposition from the adult entertainment industry.
Badi “Bill” Gammoh, who also owns exotic dance clubs in Anaheim and Arcadia, challenged the ordinance for being vague and overbroad because it contained subjective terms. He also claimed the law curtailed freedom of expression, according to the report.
“Vagueness doctrine,” wrote Judge Richard C. Tallman for a unanimous panel, “cannot be understood in a manner that prohibits governments from addressing problems that are difficult to define in objective terms…. In this case, a combination of subjective and objective terms is used to give a clear picture of an adult cabaret dancer and the conduct prohibited of such a dancer is defined objectively.”
The ordinance did not violate constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression, said the court, because it did not completely ban the form of the expression. It simply regulated how close the dancers could get to the patrons.
“While the dancers’ erotic message may be slightly less effective from two feet, the ability to engage in the protected expression is not significantly impaired,” Tallman said.
Gammoh’s clubs in Anaheim and La Habra have been involved in legal battles for the last decade. Last year the City of Anaheim paid Gammoh $2 million in a settlement for having violated his constitutional rights and for his loss of business because the city would not allow him to open a dance club, AP reported.
