Opinion ID: 76258
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Two Types of Regulation: Zoning Ordinances and Public Nudity Ordinances

Text: 42 Based on the foregoing, we conclude that while the Supreme Court has utilized closely related, and at times overlapping, analytical frameworks to evaluate adult entertainment zoning ordinances, on the one hand, and public nudity ordinances, on the other, these two types of regulatory action, both of which may target the perceived secondary effects of adult entertainment, must be distinguished and evaluated separately. Zoning ordinances regulating the conditions under which adult entertainment businesses may operate should be evaluated under the standards for time, place, and manner regulations set forth in Renton and reaffirmed in Alameda Books. Accordingly, a reviewing court must perform a three-part analysis to determine whether the zoning ordinance violates the First Amendment: first, the court must determine whether the ordinance constitutes an invalid total ban or merely a time, place, and manner regulation; second, if the ordinance is determined to be a time, place, and manner regulation, the court must decide whether the ordinance should be subject to strict or intermediate scrutiny; and third, if the ordinance is held to be subject to intermediate scrutiny, the court must determine whether it is designed to serve a substantial government interest and allows for reasonable alternative channels of communication. Renton, 475 U.S. at 46-50, 106 S.Ct. 925; Alameda Books, 122 S.Ct. at 1733-34. 43 By contrast, public nudity ordinances, insofar as they are content-neutral, should be evaluated under the four-part test for expressive conduct set forth in O'Brien and utilized by the Court in Barnes and Pap's A.M. According to this test, public nudity ordinances that incidentally impact protected expression should be upheld if they (1) are within the constitutional power of the government to enact; (2) further a substantial governmental interest; (3) are unrelated to the suppression of free expression; and (4) restrict First Amendment freedoms no greater than necessary to further the government's interest. O'Brien, 391 U.S. at 367-77, 88 S.Ct. 1673; Pap's A.M., 529 U.S. at 289, 120 S.Ct. 1382; Barnes, 501 U.S. at 567, 111 S.Ct. 2456. 44 The significance of Alameda Books is that it clarifies how the court is to interpret the third step of the Renton analysis as well as the second prong of the O'Brien test, which are, to a certain extent, virtually indistinguishable. In deciding whether a given ordinance is designed to serve ( Renton ) or furthers ( O'Brien ) the government's alleged interest in combating the negative secondary effects associated with adult entertainment, the standard we apply is the one described in Renton and utilized in Barnes, Pap's, A.M., and Alameda Books. According to this standard, the government need not conduct local studies or produce evidence independent of that already generated by other municipalities to demonstrate the efficacy of its chosen remedy, so long as whatever evidence [it] relies upon is reasonably believed to be relevant to the problem that [it] addresses.' Pap's, A.M., 529 U.S. at 296, 120 S.Ct. 1382 (plurality opinion) (quoting Renton, 475 U.S. at 51-52, 106 S.Ct. 925). However, the government's evidence must fairly support [its] rationale. Alameda Books, 122 S.Ct. at 1738 (plurality opinion); see also id. at 1743 (Kennedy, J., concurring). Further, plaintiffs challenging the ordinance after passage must be given opportunity to cast direct doubt on this rationale, either by demonstrating that the municipality's evidence does not support its rationale, or by furnishing evidence that disputes the municipality's factual findings. Id. 13 45 Having summarized these precedents, we turn now to their application to the two ordinances before us.