Lap Dance Ruling Misses the Point

How’s this for legal reasoning. The Hillsborough County, Florida City council had passed an ordinance prohibiting so-called lap dancing. For the uninformed, that involves barely dressed women rubbing themselves against seated men. In some instances, the two go to a private room where, for more money… well, you get the pictures.

A Hillsborough County judge has declared the city ordinance against this sort of behavior unconstitutional. The judge, Elvin Martinez, said the so-called “six foot rule,” meaning a man and woman would have to remain six feet apart in such establishments, is unconstitutional “on the grounds that it is over broad, and... that the city’s stated purpose for enacting the ordinance is not furthered by the ordinance,” Martinez said. But get this: Martinez also said the ordinance is aimed at prohibiting physical contact between nude dancers and patrons, but does not address patrons coming closer than six feet to nude women who are serving soft drinks.

Is this what they teach in law school today? No wonder the public hates lawyers.