lame
there used to be a strip club in LaX, but too many protesters shut it down... don't want to see partically naked women, don't go...
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/news/local/de4fa062-08ae-11df-a230-001cc4c002e0.html
Were Vernon County topless dancers stripped of their rights?
By ANNE JUNGEN | ajungen@lacrossetribune.com | Posted: Sunday, January 24, 2010 12:15 am
Honey was topless onstage before about 200 people when the music stopped about 11:45 p.m. She saw police. Lots of them.
“I was like, ‘What the hell is going on?’” she said.
An officer escorted Honey to a private room inside Gunner’s Bar in rural De Soto, where she and eight other women dressed before being handcuffed and hauled to the Vernon County Sheriff’s Department during the Dec. 18 raid.
Authorities contend the nine strippers and the tavern owner violated the local pornographic performances ordinance, a county law that hasn’t been invoked since it was passed 31 years ago.
“We got a stupid pink $500 ticket,” said Honey, who asked to be identified by her stage name. “I was like, ‘Are you serious? Did you just make this up?’ I know it’s kind of gross, but I don’t think we did anything wrong.”
Neither do legal experts.
“I don’t think they should be cited under this ordinance, and I’m about as liberal as they come when it comes to the First Amendment,” said La Crosse attorney Keith Belzer, who with law partner Todd Schroeder are representing the women for free. “I don’t think what’s happening to them is fair.”
Interpreting the dance
Nude doesn’t automatically equal pornographic, at least as the law usually applies. According to the ordinance, prosecutors must prove the nude performance appeals to an unhealthy interest in sex, is patently offensive because it violates contemporary community standards, and lacks literary, artistic, political, scientific or social value.
“There’s potentially a real problem here. Unless they were dancing nude in a very lewd way, it doesn’t constitute pornography as defined by the ordinance,” said University of Wisconsin-Madison law professor Donald Downs. “Simply dancing isn’t going to meet this test.”
Vernon County District Attorney Tim Gaskell will face the women for the first time in court Monday.
“If they want to fight the fight, the jury will determine if it was pornographic,” he said. “That’s not for me to decide.”
Vernon County Sheriff Gene Cary said the nude dancing was a “clear-cut” violation of ordinance.
“If the court sees … nudity isn’t a violation in itself, so be it,” he said. “We enforce the ordinance as written, and that says dancing.”
‘Holy cow’
Local and state authorities launched an investigation based on reports from citizens “who stopped in there and all of sudden, ‘holy cow,’” Cary said.
An undercover state Division of Criminal Investigation agent then witnessed nude performances in a large back room, prompting the raid, the sheriff said.
“I don’t think they (the dancers) anticipated it,” Cary said. “They felt that it was legal in Vernon County. I guess they didn’t do any research on ordinances.”
There are no allegations of other illegal activity, Cary added.
Bar owner Thomas Ghelf said he plans to fight his citation but declined further comment.
The law
Vernon County has no record of what prompted the ordinance that passed in November 1978, according to the county clerk’s office. Dane is the only other county in the state to pass its own ordinance on strip clubs, said Wisconsin Counties Association Legislative Director John Reinemann.
The Vernon County ordinance also bans pornographic nudity in “any playhouse, theater, hall or other place within the county.”
The fact that it doesn’t exclude private homes “would make it be overly broad,” Downs said. “That would be a constitutional problem.”
Buffalo, Crawford, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe and Trempealeau counties have not adopted ordinances addressing strip clubs, instead relying on a state law that permits nude dancing.
The only three strip clubs in seven western Wisconsin counties can be found in the Buffalo County community of Bluff Siding - just across the Mississippi River from Winona, Minn. - and the Four Corners area where northeast La Crosse County extends into Monroe County, with the Jackson County border close by.
Constitutional rights
State law is similar to the Vernon County ordinance in what prosecutors must prove about the dancing.
“As long as you’re not performing sex acts or using children, it’s pretty hard to charge someone with this statute,” said La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke.
The state law - or at least some form of it - dates back to 1849, said Dan Ritsche, a legislative analyst with the state Legislature Reference Bureau.
“It’s been amended many, many times over the years,” he said.
Prosecutors cannot file charges under the law without permission from the state attorney general, an order that otherwise only is required in racketeering and wiretap cases. The provision was introduced at the request of then-Gov. Tommy Thompson and enacted in June 1988.
When the Washburn County district attorney filed obscene performance charges in 2000 without approval, they were amended to disorderly conduct after the attorney general’s office sent the prosecutor a copy of the office’s protocol.
No other obscene performance cases have been filed under the state law since 1988. But the state Department of Justice does not have authority over county ordinance.
Local ordinances
A city of La Crosse ordinance doesn’t ban strip clubs but places strict restrictions on the establishments.
Allowing or participating in actual or simulated sexual acts and touching private areas is banned in cabarets or any business holding a Class B liquor license. Costumes must completely cover the sex organs, buttocks and the darker area around the nipples for women. Animal fur costumes aren’t adequate.
Those restrictions don’t apply to establishments without a liquor license, though other limitations might, said La Crosse Municipal Prosecutor Pete Kisken.
But a strip club without alcohol is an unlikely mix.
“Alcohol combined with nudity - that’s how you make money,” Kisken said.
The ordinance took effect Sept. 1, 1985, according to the city clerk’s office, about a year after a fire closed the Blue Tiger Lounge strip club at 109 S. Third St. Memories of what provoked the ordinance have faded with time.
A La Crosse County judge in 1996 ruled the city’s ordinance was constitutionally sound when it was challenged by the owner of the former Varsity Club, 408 S. Fourth St., Kisken said.
The man was cited when police discovered dancers wearing G-strings that showed “cleavage of the buttocks,” in violation of the city statute. The bar later closed.
The clothing restrictions is one reason strip clubs no longer exist in the city, said La Crosse County Tavern League President and Logan Bar owner Mike Brown.
“The limitations of what they have to wear isn’t going to draw people in,” he said. “You can get the same show at the beach.”
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/news/local/de4fa062-08ae-11df-a230-001cc4c002e0.html
Were Vernon County topless dancers stripped of their rights?
By ANNE JUNGEN | ajungen@lacrossetribune.com | Posted: Sunday, January 24, 2010 12:15 am
Honey was topless onstage before about 200 people when the music stopped about 11:45 p.m. She saw police. Lots of them.
“I was like, ‘What the hell is going on?’” she said.
An officer escorted Honey to a private room inside Gunner’s Bar in rural De Soto, where she and eight other women dressed before being handcuffed and hauled to the Vernon County Sheriff’s Department during the Dec. 18 raid.
Authorities contend the nine strippers and the tavern owner violated the local pornographic performances ordinance, a county law that hasn’t been invoked since it was passed 31 years ago.
“We got a stupid pink $500 ticket,” said Honey, who asked to be identified by her stage name. “I was like, ‘Are you serious? Did you just make this up?’ I know it’s kind of gross, but I don’t think we did anything wrong.”
Neither do legal experts.
“I don’t think they should be cited under this ordinance, and I’m about as liberal as they come when it comes to the First Amendment,” said La Crosse attorney Keith Belzer, who with law partner Todd Schroeder are representing the women for free. “I don’t think what’s happening to them is fair.”
Interpreting the dance
Nude doesn’t automatically equal pornographic, at least as the law usually applies. According to the ordinance, prosecutors must prove the nude performance appeals to an unhealthy interest in sex, is patently offensive because it violates contemporary community standards, and lacks literary, artistic, political, scientific or social value.
“There’s potentially a real problem here. Unless they were dancing nude in a very lewd way, it doesn’t constitute pornography as defined by the ordinance,” said University of Wisconsin-Madison law professor Donald Downs. “Simply dancing isn’t going to meet this test.”
Vernon County District Attorney Tim Gaskell will face the women for the first time in court Monday.
“If they want to fight the fight, the jury will determine if it was pornographic,” he said. “That’s not for me to decide.”
Vernon County Sheriff Gene Cary said the nude dancing was a “clear-cut” violation of ordinance.
“If the court sees … nudity isn’t a violation in itself, so be it,” he said. “We enforce the ordinance as written, and that says dancing.”
‘Holy cow’
Local and state authorities launched an investigation based on reports from citizens “who stopped in there and all of sudden, ‘holy cow,’” Cary said.
An undercover state Division of Criminal Investigation agent then witnessed nude performances in a large back room, prompting the raid, the sheriff said.
“I don’t think they (the dancers) anticipated it,” Cary said. “They felt that it was legal in Vernon County. I guess they didn’t do any research on ordinances.”
There are no allegations of other illegal activity, Cary added.
Bar owner Thomas Ghelf said he plans to fight his citation but declined further comment.
The law
Vernon County has no record of what prompted the ordinance that passed in November 1978, according to the county clerk’s office. Dane is the only other county in the state to pass its own ordinance on strip clubs, said Wisconsin Counties Association Legislative Director John Reinemann.
The Vernon County ordinance also bans pornographic nudity in “any playhouse, theater, hall or other place within the county.”
The fact that it doesn’t exclude private homes “would make it be overly broad,” Downs said. “That would be a constitutional problem.”
Buffalo, Crawford, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe and Trempealeau counties have not adopted ordinances addressing strip clubs, instead relying on a state law that permits nude dancing.
The only three strip clubs in seven western Wisconsin counties can be found in the Buffalo County community of Bluff Siding - just across the Mississippi River from Winona, Minn. - and the Four Corners area where northeast La Crosse County extends into Monroe County, with the Jackson County border close by.
Constitutional rights
State law is similar to the Vernon County ordinance in what prosecutors must prove about the dancing.
“As long as you’re not performing sex acts or using children, it’s pretty hard to charge someone with this statute,” said La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke.
The state law - or at least some form of it - dates back to 1849, said Dan Ritsche, a legislative analyst with the state Legislature Reference Bureau.
“It’s been amended many, many times over the years,” he said.
Prosecutors cannot file charges under the law without permission from the state attorney general, an order that otherwise only is required in racketeering and wiretap cases. The provision was introduced at the request of then-Gov. Tommy Thompson and enacted in June 1988.
When the Washburn County district attorney filed obscene performance charges in 2000 without approval, they were amended to disorderly conduct after the attorney general’s office sent the prosecutor a copy of the office’s protocol.
No other obscene performance cases have been filed under the state law since 1988. But the state Department of Justice does not have authority over county ordinance.
Local ordinances
A city of La Crosse ordinance doesn’t ban strip clubs but places strict restrictions on the establishments.
Allowing or participating in actual or simulated sexual acts and touching private areas is banned in cabarets or any business holding a Class B liquor license. Costumes must completely cover the sex organs, buttocks and the darker area around the nipples for women. Animal fur costumes aren’t adequate.
Those restrictions don’t apply to establishments without a liquor license, though other limitations might, said La Crosse Municipal Prosecutor Pete Kisken.
But a strip club without alcohol is an unlikely mix.
“Alcohol combined with nudity - that’s how you make money,” Kisken said.
The ordinance took effect Sept. 1, 1985, according to the city clerk’s office, about a year after a fire closed the Blue Tiger Lounge strip club at 109 S. Third St. Memories of what provoked the ordinance have faded with time.
A La Crosse County judge in 1996 ruled the city’s ordinance was constitutionally sound when it was challenged by the owner of the former Varsity Club, 408 S. Fourth St., Kisken said.
The man was cited when police discovered dancers wearing G-strings that showed “cleavage of the buttocks,” in violation of the city statute. The bar later closed.
The clothing restrictions is one reason strip clubs no longer exist in the city, said La Crosse County Tavern League President and Logan Bar owner Mike Brown.
“The limitations of what they have to wear isn’t going to draw people in,” he said. “You can get the same show at the beach.”