NJ Adult Clubs Stripped of Right to Operate Where Unwanted

Want to go to a strip club, New Jersey? You may have to cross state lines

You don’t want a strip club in your New Jersey town? No problem. The state Supreme Court says that you don’t have to. And anyone in your town who does not agree will be told to leave the state – for nudie nights. 

The decision was sparked by a controversy in the town of Sayreville, N.J. Residents wanted a nude juice bar shut down, and they got their wish.

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that towns can restrict sexually-oriented businesses by arguing such establishments are available in New York and Pennsylvania, reports the Star-Ledger.

Thursday's 5-1 decision was influenced by Sayreville's argument that they had a right to close the melon-heavy juice bar under a state law that prohibits such businesses within 1,000 feet of homes and parks.

Club 35's lawyer, Gregory Vella, argued the town couldn't offer it an alternative site that was relevant to its location.

Sayreville said Club 35’s patrons could go to Staten Island, N.Y.

The state's highest court says judges can consider if adult businesses in other states are part of the market.

Vella said that he and his client are “seriously considering” going to the U.S. Supreme Court with the case.

"We believe this decision violates my client’s state and federal constitutional rights of free speech," Vella said, according to the Star-Ledger. "What’s important is that the state could say there is nowhere for you within your relevant market area and you have to do it in another state."

Justice Barry Albin, the one supreme dissenter, said the court is “the first in the nation to suggest a state can geographically restrict constitutionally protected expression within its borders, in part, by offering a neighboring state as an alternative.”

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