Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Dildo wars

There's a new "lingerie" business just south of town and the owners have filed suit against the county over an ordinance they feel is unconstitutionally vague when it comes to determining what constitutes an "adult" business.
The owners and their attorney went before the county legislative body last night and I was dispatched to photograph the meeting. I'd hoped to get photos of county officials examining dildos and other such marital appliances, but the owners of the business apparently decided it wouldn't help their case to bring samples to the meeting. The petitioners' attorney emphasized they don't have peep shows, aka "quarter movies," with private booths where patrons can do things by themselves and with others that they wouldn't do on a downtown street.
The county officials retained a high-powered law firm out of Little Rock to represent them. Their attorney noted that a new state law that went into effect last July covers the same stuff as their ordinance and also adds zoning conditions, requiring any "adult" business to be so many feet from the nearest church, school, private residence, etc. But both attorneys seemed to agree that the state law is also vague as to what exactly constitutes an "adult" business, versus a lingerie shop that also sells latex novelties and the like.
He opined that their best option might be to rescind the county ordinance and, if the county prosecutor is so inclined, he can apply the state law to the business, thereby saving the county some serious legal fees.
County officials have a couple of weeks to chew on the matter before coming to a decision.
For me, the highlight of the meeting came at the end, when the presiding officer - in Arkansas, he's called a judge, but it's like a county commissioner in Indiana - announced he had a motion to adjourn and, "...all in favor, say ahhh."

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