KANSAS ‘COMMUNITY DEFENSE ACT’ (CDA) Talking Points for Statewide Restrictions on Sexually Oriented Businesses (SOBs)
1. Many states have court tested statewide “Time, Place & Manner” restrictions to regulate sexually oriented businesses (SOBs); including Missouri, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Arizona and Pennsylvania.
2. Most Kansas communities do not have the funds or legal expertise to contend with the lengthy litigation that SOBs inflict when faced with a local SOB ordinance. Mere intimidation by this wealthy industry (more annual revenue that ABC, NBC & CBS combined) is sufficient to dissuade most cities and counties. Litigations like in Abilene Kansas, whose case went on for five years and could have gone longer but the insurance company that represented Abilene was reluctant to expend what they estimated was another $ 1 million. In addition, the community, over time became weary of the struggle.
3. Geographically most Kansas communities do not to have planning and zoning offices. This leaves them vulnerable and with few remedies when faced with SOB issues.
4. A state wide SOB statute will be challenged but the outcome will likely follow a well worn path the courts have taken that comes down on the side of public safety and health, thus reducing the number of city by city and county litigations and dramatically reducing court costs.
5. For 40 years Federal and State Courts have upheld the constitutional right of lawmakers to regulate SOB’s because of the “Negative Secondary Effects” these types of businesses have on communities. The leading negative secondary effects are increased crime, increased sexually transmitted diseases, general blight, decreased property values, increased drug trafficking, prostitution, human trafficking / slavery, etc… An SOBs effect does not add value to communities but are costly and increasingly burdensome to taxpayers.
6. The “legislating morality” or “infringing of the 1st amendment free speech” SOB arguments is a red herring. The court’s rulings are based on the evidence of “Negative Secondary Effects” on communities. The Kansas CDA is content neutral.
7. Arguments of government intrusion on business are another diversion. SOBs are not like any other class of business; they are distinct by definition as outlined in Kansas Statue 12-770. Even more substantive, the U.S. Supreme Court and Federal appellate cases across the county, including Denver’s 10th circuit (Dr. John vs. Wahlen, Sept. 2008), have repeatedly upheld dancer-patron buffers, no touch rules, no total nudity, hours of operation (as early as 10:00 p.m. closings), no minors, ban of liquor at SOBs and open-booth regulations as constitutional. Constitutional, not because of content but because of the volumes of evidence of the negative secondary effects upon communities such as increased crime, STDs, blight, drug and human trafficking, etc…. SOBs are not just another business; they are not engines of prosperity but a drain on community resources. The courts call these “common sense” restrictions.
8. The Kansas CDA, SOB regulations put into place the below reasonable, constitutional and narrowly constructed TIME, PLACE and MANNER restrictions.
- Close of SOBs at midnight till six a.m. (Courts have upheld closings as early as 10:00 p.m.)
- Minors are prohibited from entering an SOB. Currently, minors of any age can enter an SOB as long as they do not drink.
- A six foot standoff distance between dancers and patrons. (eliminating lap and couch dances; thus reducing Sexually Transmitted Diseases)
- A minimum light level inside the SOB
- Elimination of private VIP rooms or booths (where prostitution is frequent)
- An employee or owner of an SOB cannot have a criminal history
- A standoff distance of 1,000 feet from homes, churches, playgrounds, schools, day care centers and other SOB’s
- Total nudity ban (twice upheld by the Supreme Court)
- Raised dance platform (static barrier to reinforce six foot distance of dancer from patron)
- Elevated operators station that can view all of the SOB activities
- No alcohol served at SOBs.
9. “Time” and “Manner” SOB restrictions must be applied retroactively to existing as well as future SOBs. To do otherwise would guarantee an unregulated monopoly by pre existing SOBs.
10. Statewide “Place” restrictions are applied only to future SOBs. CDA does not dictate “Place” restrictions on pre existing SOBs. New “place” restrictions are upheld as constitutionally sound when adopted by local municipalities. “Place” restrictions require a more exacting relocation of pre existing SOBs based on local sensitive land impact.
11. THE ROLE OF ALCOHOL AT STRIP CLUBS; Proximity to alcohol is a key component of the criminological theory of secondary effects. Alcohol aggravates an SOB’s already-high ambient crime risk by lowering the inhibitions and clouding the judgments of the SOB’s patrons. In effect, alcohol makes the soft targets found at the SOB site considerably softer. The available data corroborate this expectation in all respects. Predatory criminals prefer inebriated victims, and SOBs that serve alcohol or that are located near liquor-serving businesses pose accordingly larger and qualitatively different ambient public safety hazards. Governments rely on this consistent finding of crime-related secondary effect studies as a rationale for limiting nudity in liquor serving businesses.
State Director, Phillip Cosby 913-787-0075 pcosby@afa-ksmo.net
