Judge Upholds Colorado’s Statewide Smoking Ban

As reported here by Denver’s CBS News. Smoking bans, I must confess, do not fall within the category of “sin law.” I say this because the drive behind smoking bans is usually public health rather than public morality. I’ve written about Georgia’s smoking ban in Atlanta’s nightlife publication, The Hudspeth Report. You can read that [...]

Will you be arrested for playing online poker?

Read Professor I. Nelson Rose‘s answer here. A glimpse: “I am often asked whether Internet poker is legal. The answer is probably not, but the chances of actually getting into trouble are very slim. How slim? You have a better chance of winning the final no-limit Texas Hold ‘Em tournament at the World Series of [...]

Good (and bad) things come in small packages

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals issued this opinion yesterday. The case involves a retail novelty store, Dr. John’s, that sells a “range” of adult products. When the City of Roy (Utah) insisted that Dr. John’s submit to its sexually oriented business (SOB) licensing scheme, Dr. John’s launched a comprehensive challenge to the city’s SOB [...]

Speaking of obscenity…

Howard Bashman — of How Appealing fame — wrote an essay entitled, “Text This: Words Alone Can Violate Federal Obscenity Laws,” which appears on law.com. Prompting his article is a recent decision from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals where, as Bashman reports, the court “affirmed a federal criminal conviction based on a jury’s finding [...]

Should Sheriffs Chaparone?

Commingling is a familiar legal concept. It often crops up in the context of fiduciary obligations, e.g., where one mixes company funds with personal funds. (BTW, that’s not recommended.) But you’ll be hearing more about it in the context of nude dancing. The Community Press reports here that “[a] judge has ruled in Kenton County’s [...]

The USSC turns away sex toy case

Reuters reports here that the U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant certiorari and hear a sex-toy case arising out of Texas. “His attorney challenged the law as unconstitutional, claiming it violated the right to sexual privacy without government interference. The court, which rejected a challenge to a similar Alabama law last year, denied the appeal [...]

In My Back Yard

An enlightened community? You be the judge. This article in the Arizona Journal reports that Scottsdale residents voted “No!” on a measure that would have banned lap dances. Whodda thunk it.

Just how old are you?

This is a cool site. Find out how old you are (or how young you’re not) — down to the second.

Is Store Sexually Oriented?

I stumbled across How Appealing‘s post to this article in The Dallas Morning News. At issue is whether the store is fairly characterized as an ‘adult’ store, given its nondescript inventory. The City says yes; the store says no. Our law firm is litigating similar issues with increasing frequency. Local governments enjoy wide latitude (courtesy [...]

The strip club lottery

The Seattle Times reports “Hitting the Strip-Club Jackpot” here. The lesson learned: the government must be careful that laws prohibiting adult entertainment are valid before using them to close strip clubs — or even before using them to prevent strip clubs from opening.