Adult Entertainment Business Owners Frustrated and Efforts to Obtain Summary Judgment

Patty Salkin, writing at the Law of the Land Blog, summarizes a case that has been working its way through the California courts for the last 16 years.  It appears, based on a recent ruling summarized by Patty, that the case is far from being concluded.

The case involved a municipal regulation that restricted the location of adult entertainment businesses and provided that two such businesses could not be operated at the same location, even if the two businesses were under a common ownership. The owner challenged the ordinance on First Amendment grounds.  Plaintiffs initially prevailed at the District Court level and the 9^th Circuit affirmed, but the Supreme Court reversed and remanded.  After remand, the District Court considered motions for summary judgment and ruled in favor of Plaintiffs.  The 9^th Circuit, on appeal by the City, held that it was not appropriate to grant summary judgment for the Plaintiffs on the basis of evidence presented by the business owner which consisted of declarations by the business owner and a consultant to the business owner.  The case has again been remanded for further proceedings in the District Court.

This case emphasizes the difficulty associated with enforcing ordinances regulating adult businesses and the need to perform a careful analysis at the time of enactment of an ordinance and at the time of enforcement of an ordinance.

Hazelwood & Weber continuously monitors all areas of municipal law and provides services to municipalities in all areas of municipal regulation and enforcement.

Click here for a link to the full article.