Court Opinion

ID: 9533737
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:34:14.435756+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:29:09.186791
License: Public Domain

Lockett, J.,
dissenting: The majority concludes that Shawnee County’s charter resolution providing for the licensing and regulation of adult entertainment studios is constitutional and that the resolution does not contain any significant restraint on the exercise of protected constitutional rights. I disagree.
First, let us examine significant parts of the resolution.
“SECTION 2. Definitions.
For the purpose of this Resolution, the words and phrases used herein shall have the following meanings, unless otherwise clearly indicated by the context:
(a) ‘Adult entertainment studio’ means any premises to which the public, patrons or members are invited or admitted and which are so physically arranged as to provide booths, cubicles, rooms, compartments or stalls separate from the common areas of the premises, wherein an entertainer provides entertainment to a member of the public, a patron or a member, when such entertainment is held, conducted, operated or maintained for a profit, direct or indirect. An adult entertainment studio includes, without being limited to, any premises that is physically arranged and used as *79such, whether advertised or represented as an entertainment studio, rap studio, exotic dance studio, encounter studio, sensitivity studio, modeling studio or any other term of like import. Adult entertainment studio shall not include theaters, concert halls, or similar establishments where entertainment is performed for groups of four or more.
“SECTION 6. Permit Required.
No person shall be an entertainer in an adult entertainment studio without a valid permit issued by the Board.
“SECTION 7. Application for Permit.
(a) Any person desiring to secure a permit shall make application to the Board. The application shall be filed in triplicate with and dated by the County Clerk. A copy of the application shall be distributed promptly by the County Clerk to the Sheriff s Department and to the applicant.
(b) The application for a permit shall be upon a form provided by the County Clerk. An applicant for a permit shall furnish the following information under oath:
(1) Name and address, including all aliases.
(2) Written proof that the individual is at least eighteen (18) years of age.
(3) All residential addresses of the applicant for the past three (3) years.
(4) The applicant’s height, weight, color of eyes and hair.
(5) The business, occupation or employment of the applicant for five (5) years immediately preceding the date of application.
(6) The adult entertainment studio or similar business permit history of the applicant; whether such person, in previously operating in this or any other city or state under permit, has had such permit revoked or suspended, the reason therefor, and the business activity or occupation subject to such action of suspension or revocation.
(7) All criminal, city ordinance, or county resolution violation convictions, forfeiture of bond and pleadings of nolo contendere on all charges, except minor traffic violations.
(8) Fingerprints and two (2) portrait photographs at least two (2) inches by two (2) inches of the applicant.
(9) The length of time the applicant has been a resident of Shawnee County immediately preceding the date of the application.
(10) A statement by the applicant that he or she is familiar with the provisions of this Resolution and is in compliance with them.
(11) Written statements of at least five (5) persons who are not related to the applicant that the applicant is of good moral character.
“SECTION 8. Standards for Issuance of Permit.
(a) To receive a permit as an entertainer, an applicant must meet the following standards:
(1) The applicant shall be at least 18 years of age.
(2) The applicant shall have been a resident of Shawnee County continuously for at least thirty (30) days immediately preceding the date of the application.
*80(3) The applicant shall not have been convicted of or pleaded no contest to a felony or any crime involving moral turpitude within five (5) years immediately preceding the date of the application.
(4) The applicant shall be a person of good moral character and reputation in the community in which he or she resides.
(5) The applicant shall not have been convicted of or pleaded nolo contendere to any violation of this Resolution as set forth in Section 16(a).
“SECTION 13. Hours of Operation.
(a) No adult entertainment studio shall be open earlier than 8:00 o’clock a.m. nor later than 11:00 o’clock p.m.
“SECTION 14. Responsibilities of the Operator.
(g) Every adult entertainment studio shall be physically arranged in such a manner that the entire interior portion of the booths, cubicles, rooms or stalls wherein entertainment is provided is visible from a common area of the premises. Visibility shall not be blocked or obscured by doors, curtains, drapes, or any other obstruction whatsoever.
(h) The operator shall be responsible for and shall provide that any room or area used for the purpose of adult entertainment shall be readily accessible at all times and shall be opened to view in its entirety for inspection by the Sheriff or any deputy sheriff at all reasonable times.
(i) No operator, entertainer or employee of an adult entertainment studio shall demand or collect all or any portion of a fee for entertainment before its completion.”
It is well settled that Shawnee County has the right to subject the individuals in the county to certain restraints in order to secure the general comfort, health, welfare and prosperity of the people. The police power of the governing body to protect the safety, health, peace, good order, and morals of the community includes the right to set reasonable restraints.
When restraints are imposed, reasonable certainty is essential. Vague law in any area suffers constitutional infirmity. Stricter standards of statutory vagueness are to be applied to laws inhibiting First Amendment rights. Ashton v. Kentucky, 384 U.S. 195, 16 L.Ed.2d 469, 86 S.Ct. 1407 (1966).
The county resolution suffers from both overbreadth and vagueness. It violates the overbreadth doctrine because the resolution is neither clear nor precise. The resolution regulates everything from the floor plan of the building to the size of the audience. The resolution also violates the vagueness doctrine of the due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amend*81ments. Reasonable certainty in laws is essential when they impose sanctions to insure compliance.
The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the states refrain from denying to any person within their jurisdiction equal protection of the laws. No person is to be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Under the Constitution, equal protection and security are the right of all under like circumstances to the enjoyment of their personal or civil rights.
Section 8(a)(2) of the resolution requires that all applicants for a permit to entertain “shall have been a resident of Shawnee County continuously for at least thirty (30) days immediately preceding the date of the application.” Equal protection requires like treatment of all citizens of the state except under narrow circumstances. Section 8(a)(2) limiting the issuance of permits only to residents of Shawnee County is a clear violation of the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution.
I have no argument with the purpose of the resolution. I only argue against the manner selected by the Board of County Commissioners.
Holmes, J., joins the foregoing dissent.