An Oregon man who owns a nude bar has been ordered to pay nearly $20,000 in legal fees to the American Family Association’s Center for Law & Policy over a frivolous lawsuit he filed against demonstrators who protested his business.
Larry Lacey, who owns Club 71, must pay the conservative group after a judge dismissed his lawsuit against a group of demonstrators who had been picketing his bar, the Agape Press reported.
The American Family Association’s Law Center represented the demonstrators.
A judge ruled this week that Lacey’s suit was without merit and that he must pay the defendants’ legal fees. Lacey had sought $800,000 in damages from the protesters.
Michael DePrimo, a lawyer with the Law Center, said the $19,620 judgment against Lacey shows that those who try to suppress free speech would be held accountable.
He called the outcome to the case as a “great result” against the purveyors of pornography.
