Opinion ID: 406183
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Restriction on Location of Adult Theaters

Text: 25 Ordinance 78-1 severely limits the options of one wishing to open an adult theater in Galveston. Basiardanes maintains that the zoning restriction is tantamount to a total ban of additional adult theaters in Galveston in breach of the First Amendment. In Basiardanes' view the locations permitted by the ordinance fall too far short of commercial viability to allow an adult theater to open. The district court rejected Basiardanes' contention, finding that Ordinance 78-1, though it does limit adult theaters to undesirable locations, strikes at the pocketbook and not at the Constitution. 514 F.Supp. at 982. We hold that the conclusion of the district court is in error. Ordinance 78-1 constitutes a restraint of speech in violation of Basiardanes' First Amendment rights. 6 26 A city's authority to zone is an integral aspect of its police power. The preservation of residential neighborhoods and business districts against the deteriorating influence of crime and blight surely ranks among the highest functions that city dwellers expect its planners to perform. In recognition of the place of zoning in maintaining and upgrading the quality of life in cities, courts generally adopt a deferential posture towards zoning ordinances, Agins v. City of Tiburon, 447 U.S. 255, 260, 100 S.Ct. 2138, 2141, 65 L.Ed.2d 106 (1980); Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas, 416 U.S. 1, 94 S.Ct. 1536, 39 L.Ed.2d 797 (1974); Stansberry v. Holmes, 613 F.2d 1285 (5th Cir. 1980). Ordinarily, a zoning regulation will be sustained if it is rationally related to a legitimate state interest and does not extinguish all practicable uses of the property. Id. 27 Different judicial attitudes come into play, however, when zoning schemes intrude upon activity protected by the First Amendment. In Schad v. Borough of Mount Ephraim, 452 U.S. 61, 101 S.Ct. 2176, 68 L.Ed.2d 671 (1981), the Supreme Court struck down on First Amendment grounds a zoning ordinance that prohibited all live entertainment within city limits. Declining to apply a deferential standard of review, the Court stated ... when a zoning law infringes upon a protected liberty, it must be narrowly drawn and must further a sufficiently substantial governmental interest. See Deerfield Medical Center v. City of Deerfield Beach, 661 F.2d 328, 336 (5th Cir. 1981) (heightened standard of review applied to a city's denial of a permit to open an abortion clinic). Our first inquiry, therefore, is whether Ordinance 78-1 infringes a protected right under the proper constitutional test. 28 Galveston's regulation of adult theaters plainly implicates First Amendment rights. The ordinance is not limited to movie theaters and bookstores catering to those with an appetite for obscene materials falling outside the protection of the First Amendment, Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15, 93 S.Ct. 2607, 37 L.Ed.2d 419 (1973). Rather, Galveston has chosen to regulate to the point of banning theaters regularly showing any film that, under Texas law, may not be viewed by minors who are unaccompanied by an adult. A state's power to protect children against exposure to pornography is considerably broader than its power to regulate material produced with and consumed by adults. New York v. Ferber, --- U.S. ----, 102 S.Ct. 3348, ----, 72 L.Ed.2d ---- (1982) (upholding the imposition of criminal penalties on the distribution of child pornography that is not obscene under Miller, supra). Cf. FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726, 98 S.Ct. 3026, 57 L.Ed.2d 1073 (1978) (government's interest in shielding youths from exposure to indecent language justifies a restraint on broadcasters' freedom of speech). But here the authorities are prohibiting theaters from exhibiting films to adults rather than children. Many movies from which unaccompanied minors may be excluded are constitutionally protected expressions of free speech for adults. See Ginsberg v. New York, 390 U.S. 629, 634-37, 88 S.Ct. 1274, 1277-79, 20 L.Ed.2d 195 (1968). Cf. Pinkus v. United States, 436 U.S. 293, 297, 98 S.Ct. 1808, 1812, 56 L.Ed.2d 293 (1978) (children are not part of the community by whose standards a work may be found obscene for adults under 18 U.S.C. § 1461). By pegging its definition of adult theaters to Texas law on obscenity for minors, Galveston's regulation of adult theaters sweeps broadly into the area protected by the First Amendment. 29 Galveston argues that there is no restriction of First Amendment rights in this case because the ordinance simply regulates the time, place, and manner of the operation of adult theaters. 7 A reasonable time, place, and manner regulation restricts speech but leaves open adequate alternative channels of communication to the speaker. Such a regulation does not violate the First Amendment. Heffron v. ISKCON, 452 U.S. 640, 101 S.Ct. 2559, 2567, 69 L.Ed.2d 298 (1981); Schad, 101 S.Ct. at 2186; Kovacs v. Cooper, 336 U.S. 77, 85-87, 69 S.Ct. 448, 452-53, 93 L.Ed. 513 (1949). In support of its argument that Ordinance 78-1 leaves open adequate alternative channels, Galveston relies on Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc., 427 U.S. 50, 96 S.Ct. 2440, 49 L.Ed.2d 310 (1976). A comparison of the cases reveals that this reliance is misplaced. 30 In American Mini Theatres, the Supreme Court upheld a zoning ordinance that dispersed adult theaters throughout the city. An adult theater in Detroit could not operate within 1,000 feet of any other adult theater or other regulated use. 8 The Supreme Court found no constitutional infirmity in the application of Detroit's zoning law to adult theaters. The Court rejected an argument that the dispersal requirements alone muzzled protected speech. 427 U.S. at 62-63, 96 S.Ct. at 2448-49. 31 Galveston argues that American Mini Theatres establishes the constitutionality of its own zoning ordinance because Galveston modeled its law on the Detroit ordinance approved by the Supreme Court. Although Galveston is not alone in patterning a restriction on adult theaters on Detroit's dispersal ordinance, 9 merely mimicking the ordinance upheld in American Mini Theatres is not enough. Galveston asks us to overlook the overriding fact that the American Mini Theatres ordinance did not substantially exclude adult theaters from the city or significantly cut down on viewers' access to adult movies. See 427 U.S. at 62, 96 S.Ct. at 2448 (plurality opinion). 10 The Court expressly recognized that (t)he situation would be quite different if the ordinance had the effect of suppressing, or greatly restricting access to, lawful speech. 427 U.S. at 71 n.35, 96 S.Ct. at 2453 n.35. See Schad v. Borough of Mount Ephraim, 101 S.Ct. at 2184, 2186 (noting that American Mini Theatres is limited to ordinances that while regulating nevertheless preserve access to protected speech). In contrast, Galveston has enacted a law that bans such theaters rather than disperses them. The law has the precise effect of suppressing speech that the Supreme Court recognized would create a different issue than was faced in American Mini Theatres itself. 32 The Galveston ordinance bans adult theaters outright from much of the city. The remaining areas of the city are off-limits if too close to certain structures such as churches, schools, and residential areas. Basiardanes introduced maps of the city in evidence showing what oppressive options remained to an aspiring promoter of adult films. 11 In the ten percent to fifteen percent of the city not categorically banned, adult theaters may operate only in the industrial zones at a great distance from other consumer-oriented establishments. Few access roads lead to the permitted locations, which are found among warehouses, shipyards, undeveloped areas, and swamps. These locations are poorly lit, barren of structures suitable for showing films, and perhaps unsafe. In theory they are available to adult movie proprietors and patrons, but in fact they are completely unsuited to this use. 33 The district court held that as long as some space within the city limits of Galveston is available for adult movie theaters, the unattractiveness of those locations is irrelevant. The court viewed the drawbacks of opening a movie theater in an industrial zone as simply the reasonable economic burden that befalls some activity in every land-use program. 514 F.Supp. at 982 (footnote omitted). A tolerance of economic burden is appropriate in judging zoning ordinance that has no impact on protected speech. But when a claim of suppression of speech is raised, an exclusive focus on economic impact is improper. The inquiry for First Amendment purposes is not concerned with economic impact; rather, it looks only to the effect of this ordinance upon freedom of expression. American Mini Theatres, 427 U.S. at 78, 96 S.Ct. at 2456 (Powell, J., concurring). 34 The effect of Ordinance 78-1 is to render it all but impossible in Galveston for a proprietor to open a theater to exhibit adult films or for patrons to attend them. The district court erred in failing to consider the consequences of confining adult theaters to the most unattractive, inaccessible, and inconvenient areas of a city. Deerfield Medical Center v. City of Deerfield Beach, 661 F.2d at 336 (holding that the restriction of abortion facilities to undesirable areas places a significant burden on a woman's decision whether to have an abortion). Viewing Ordinance 78-1 in light of its impact on free speech, it is clear that the ordinance drastically impairs the availability in Galveston of films protected for adult viewing by the First Amendment. Galveston's ordinance thus cannot be sustained as a reasonable time, place, and manner regulation under American Mini Theatres, supra. Instead, we must test the ordinance under the more stringent standard of Schad v. Borough of Mt. Ephraim, supra in which the zoning ordinance prohibited live entertainment in the city. 35 Schad directs us to examine the strength and legitimacy of the governmental interest behind the ordinance and the precision with which the ordinance is drawn. Unless the ordinance advances significant governmental interests and accomplishes such advancement without undue restraint of speech, the ordinance is invalid. 101 S.Ct. at 2183-84. We conclude that Ordinance 78-1 is neither motivated by a sufficient governmental interest, nor narrowly tailored so as to satisfy the First Amendment. 36 As to the showing of governmental interest, the avowed reason for Ordinance 78-1 is to arrest deterioration of the downtown area and to prevent and curtail crime. The mayor of Galveston testified that he saw a link between the deterioration of the downtown area and the opening up of an adult theater. In the mayor's eyes, the efforts of Galveston to restore the troubled downtown area would be thwarted by the entry of an adult theater into the heart of the zone targeted for renovation. Ordinance 78-1 purported to respond to the concern for the adverse effects of adult theaters by dispersing those theaters throughout the city. 37 The rehabilitation of blighted urban areas and the use of zoning to accomplish urban renewal are legitimate goals for a city. An adult theater ordinance that furthers such goals satisfies the initial requirement that the city have a substantial state interest to support a law restricting free speech. 12 38 The assertion of a state interest, however, is not enough. Schad v. Borough of Mt. Ephraim, 101 S.Ct. at 2184. The city must buttress its assertion with evidence that the state interest has a basis in fact and that the factual basis was considered by the city in passing the ordinance. Id. at 2185 (rejecting, for want of a factual basis, asserted reasons given in support of an ordinance that restricted First Amendment rights); Avalon Cinema Corp. v. Thompson, 667 F.2d 659, 661 (8th Cir. 1981) (en banc) (relying on the city's failure to prove deleterious effects of adult theaters in striking down an adult theater ordinance); Keego Harbor Co. v. City of Keego Harbor, 657 F.2d 94, 98 (6th Cir. 1981) (requiring the city to prove its justification for burdening First Amendment rights of adult theater operators). 39 Still limiting our inquiry at the moment to governmental interest, there is no evidence in the record that the Galveston City Council passed Ordinance 78-1 after careful consideration or study of the effects of adult theaters on urban life. The purported nexus between crime and adult theaters appears to be premised solely upon the speculation of Galveston city officials. Even at trial, Galveston offered no evidence of what vices would flourish if adult theaters were allowed downtown. 40 This paucity of evidence stands in sharp contrast to the facts of American Mini Theatres. In that case, the Detroit Common Council had heard extensive testimony before it enacted an adult theater ordinance. The Detroit Council considered the studies of sociologists and urban planners on the consequences of allowing concentrations of adult theaters. Only after its consideration did Detroit decide to disperse them. American Mini Theatres, 427 U.S. at 80 n.4, 96 S.Ct. at 2457 n.4 (Powell, J. concurring). The Council's findings were crucial to the Supreme Court in upholding the Detroit ordinance. See id. at 55, 80, 96 S.Ct. at 2445, 2457. Here, the empty record before the Galveston City Council when it decided to regulate adult theaters undermines its contention that the ordinance in fact furthers the goal of rehabilitating the downtown area. No evidence was introduced to supplement or bolster the City Council's assumption that one adult theater located downtown and urban blight are linked. 41 The timing of the ordinance's passage also casts doubt on the relationship between the ordinance and its alleged purpose. See Avalon Cinema Corp., 667 F.2d at 661. Galveston had no zoning restrictions on adult theaters until Basiardanes announced the opening of a theater across the street from the Grand Opera House. The Grand Opera House is a major and expensive project in Galveston's redevelopment plan. The sequence of events strongly suggests that Galveston reacted to Basiardanes' proposed theater because of its location, not because of the City's concern with urban deterioration. 42 The protection of the Grand Opera House's attractiveness to patrons is a legitimate goal. 13 But it is not one with the same weight as the preservation of inner cities against crime and blight, nor is it one that entitles the City to squelch free speech. The history of Ordinance 78-1 leads us to conclude that the City's motive was to remove Basiardanes' adult theater from the vicinity of the opera house because of apprehension that an adult theater would drive patrons away. This history does not support Galveston's claim that it was motivated by the crime and blight problem. 14 43 Finally, the narrow focus of the ordinance on adult theaters and bookstores alone renders suspect the City's claim that the ordinance aimed to cure the deterioration of the downtown. As far as the record shows, Galveston places no zoning restrictions on bars, pool halls, pawn shops, or massage parlors. Rather, Galveston has trained its sights solely on theaters exhibiting films that enjoy First Amendment protection. Cf. American Mini Theatres, 427 U.S. at 53-54, 96 S.Ct. at 2444-45 (Detroit ordinance regulated nine uses viewed as causes of blight in addition to adult theaters). Galveston need not tackle all of its zoning problems at once, see Railway Express Agency, Inc. v. New York, 336 U.S. 106, 69 S.Ct. 463, 93 L.Ed. 533 (1949). The City's exclusive attention to adult theaters, however, cuts against the argument that Ordinance 78-1 is motivated to protect the urban environment against decay. 44 In sum, we conclude that Galveston has not sustained its burden of showing that Ordinance 78-1 responds to the adverse effects of adult theaters rather than to a perceived unpleasantness in having an adult theater downtown. 45 Even assuming our conclusion was otherwise on the showing of governmental interest, we would still be unable to sustain the constitutionality of Ordinance 78-1. To survive judicial scrutiny, the City must also show the ordinance is narrowly drawn to serve a legitimate government interest with only the minimum intrusion upon First Amendment freedoms. Schad, 101 S.Ct. at 2186; Village of Schaumburg v. Citizens for a Better Environment, 444 U.S. 620, 637, 100 S.Ct. 826, 836, 63 L.Ed.2d 73 (1980). Ordinance 78-1 restricts speech much more broadly than is necessary to achieve its asserted purposes. 46 Ordinance 78-1 does far more than to regulate obscene movies, or sexually-explicit movies that are sheltered by the First Amendment although bordering on the obscene. Galveston defines the coverage of its ordinance by reference to Texas law on what adults believe is undesirable viewing for minors without parental consent. The ordinance thus reaches many films that are far removed from what is colloquially termed hard core, or even soft core, pornography. 47 Basiardanes himself proposed to exhibit only adult movies, lawful but of the more explicit variety. Nevertheless, under the First Amendment overbreadth doctrine, he is entitled to argue that the ordinance is unconstitutional as applied to other theater operators whose fare, though sexually graphic and subject to the ordinance, falls in the mainstream of American film entertainment. Schad, 101 S.Ct. at 2181 (exhibitor of nude dancing may raise the First Amendment claims of theaters and concert halls to attack an ordinance prohibiting all live entertainment). The overbreadth of Ordinance 78-1 is real and substantial in relation to its legitimate scope, if any. Broadrick v. Oklahoma, 413 U.S. 601, 93 S.Ct. 2908, 37 L.Ed.2d 830 (1973). 48 Many works that might be classified as obscene for minors, and therefore regulated by Ordinance 78-1, are works of merit to adults. The Supreme Court has condemned a state law under which a defendant was prosecuted for selling to an adult a book that was obscene to children. Butler v. Michigan, 352 U.S. 380, 77 S.Ct. 524, 1 L.Ed.2d 412 (1957). The Court reasoned that such a law would reduce the adult population ... to reading only what is fit for children. Id. at 383, 77 S.Ct. at 526. Galveston's ordinance has a similar effect on adults who view films. 49 American theaters today commonly exhibit a broad range of films that may be unfit for children without in any way contributing to urban blight or promoting crime. 15 Yet theaters showing these movies are subject to Ordinance 78-1 to the same extent as an adult theater showing films on the fringe of the obscene. Whatever connection there is between crime or blight and adult theaters, the requisite connection is surely missing with respect to popular but sexually oriented films, which are covered by Ordinance 78-1. 16 The scope of Ordinance 78-1 exceeds any legitimate governmental purpose in upgrading the downtown and preventing crime. Because Ordinance 78-1 is far more restrictive than necessary to achieve its purported goals, it violates the First Amendment. 50 It must be made totally clear that this ordinance, through the guise of regulation, banned theaters showing motion pictures that admittedly could be shown with complete legality to every person in Galveston seventeen years of age and over. The intrusion upon First Amendment rights is manifest.