KANSAS CITY - The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a law banning nudity and imposing other restrictions on strip clubs violates the state constitution, according to a recently published report.
The court had already determined the law unconstitutional in August 2005 based on that fact that the law was tacked onto a bill toughening Missouri’s drunken-driving laws. Missouri constitution requires legislation to deal with a single subject.
According to the Missouri Supreme Court, the strip club law constitutes "log-rolling," which refers to the practice of bundling several matters in a single bill, in hopes of ensuring their passage.
According to a report in the Kansas City Star, the ruling last year was a victory for the adult entertainment industry and yet another setback for Missouri Sen. Matt Bartle, the Lee’s Summit Republican who sponsored the bill as well as other measures targeting the adult entertainment industry.
The report also said that the strip-club bill struck down had banned full nudity; required dancers to stay at least 10 feet from clients and behind a rail; barred dancers from touching customers; and required customers and dancers to be at least 21 or over.
Striking down the law, Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan found that it violated both the Missouri Constitution and the U.S. Constitution. Like it or not, Cole wrote, nude dancing qualifying as expressive conduct is constitutionally protected activity falling within the outer perimeters of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
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