Opinion ID: 479002
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Pierce County

Text: 19 Pierce County asserts that its ban on nude dancing will reduce the burden on law enforcement resources. PCC-Preamble. The County contends that nude dancing causes or encourages unlawful activity. 20 The district court found that the County's asserted justification was inadequate because there was no relationship between crime and topless dancing and there was no evidence of prostitution or organized crime at topless establishments. The district court also found that the County's interest in effective law enforcement was adequately served by the criminal laws. 21 Where a regulation places a substantial restriction on free expression, as does this ban on nude dancing, it is subject to strict scrutiny. See Schad, 452 U.S. at 71, 101 S.Ct. at 2184; Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 383 U.S. 663, 679, 86 S.Ct. 1079, 1088, 16 L.Ed.2d 169 (1966). This may require the trial court to make factual findings on the validity of the ... assertions of harm and then closely scrutinize the ... ordinance's relationship to prevention of the alleged harms. Ebel v. City of Corona, 698 F.2d at 393; Tovar v. Billmeyer, 721 F.2d at 1266 (citing Young, 427 U.S. at 71, 96 S.Ct. at 2453). In Kuzinich v. County of Santa Clara, 689 F.2d 1345 (9th Cir.1982), the court noted that the government must show that the business has an impact different than other businesses to justify the restriction was intended to accomplish its stated purposes. Id. at 1348. 22 The Pierce County Sheriff presented testimony and data to the County Council that were designed to show that the soda pop topless dancing clubs caused and encouraged illicit activities such as prostitution, narcotics, and violence, and, therefore, such clubs had an added need for law enforcement services. The sheriff provided statistics on the number of police calls to the topless clubs. 2 23 The data provided are not limited to calls to particular clubs, but include the immediate vicinity. The record indicates that the areas where these clubs are located may be conducive to criminal activity by the combination of liquor taverns, inexpensive motels, and topless clubs. 3 No meaningful comparative statistics are provided on hotels where prostitution occurs, or the bars where alcohol is served. The data on police calls to two taverns is of little assistance given that there are fifty to seventy-five in the County. In sum, the County's proof does not show that topless dancing is anymore a cause of lawlessness than any of the other businesses. 24 Even if we found that the County had shown that topless dancing caused illegal activity and had thereby established a substantial interest in reducing the burden on law enforcement, the County has not shown that its interest could not be achieved by a means less intrusive on protected First Amendment activity. 25 An alternative means of reducing any additional burden on law enforcement caused by topless clubs seems available. The County tentatively approved another ordinance that set a yearly license fee of $500 for dancing establishments. (PCR-30-18). There was discussion of scaling the fee to approximate law enforcement costs. The ordinance also requires public dancing places where food or drink is served to be closed from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. (PCR-30-12-30). 26 Zoning, operating hour limits, licensing fees, and distance requirements may well be sufficient to curb any additional burden placed on law enforcement by these establishments. 27 In summary, Pierce County has not shown that the topless clubs present more of a law enforcement problem than other establishments, or that the prohibition on nude dancing is necessary, or will abate the problem. Furthermore, the County has not carried its burden of showing that lesser restrictive alternatives would be inadequate. We, therefore, agree with the district court's finding that the ordinance violates the First Amendment.