SALT LAKE CITY, UT — A federal appeals court case heard Wednesday may have national implications, both sides said.At issue is whether the small Utah town of Roy can zone adult entertainment out of existence. The town insists no law prevents it from denying permits to adult establishments if those establishments “increase crime and blight and decrease neighborhood property values.” Doctor John’s Lingerie Boutique, on the other hand, insists no scientific evidence exists to support crime, blight and property devaluation claims, and therefore attempting to shut down the store simply because it offers adults-only merchandise violates the First Amendment rights of both the store and its customers.
The case is before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is holding a special session at the University of Utah School of Law.
John Coil, a longtime Texas adult store owner and a partner in Doctor John’s, said the only harm done by the store is to an oppressive, male-dominated, religiously oriented mindset.
“Here’s the thing: That’s the very same argument they use in Muslim countries when a young girl uses her birth canal for something the men don’t want her to use it for,” Coil told Deseret News. “In the United States, in our society, women can use their bodies for whatever they want.”
His opponents disagree. Chief among them is John Harmer, president of anti-porn group Lighted Candle. Harmer contends “eroto-toxins” cause addiction to pornography in much the same way drugs affect the brain, often leading from soft-core to hardcore to child porn use.
At the center of the case is a Roy municipal ordinance enacted after Doctor John’s moved to the town in 2001. The ordinance, primarily aimed at gentlemen’s clubs, requires all adult businesses and their employees to undergo background checks and be licensed. It also restricts business hours.
Coil maintains an adult video store primarily aimed at women is nothing like a gentlemen’s club and therefore should not be regulated like one. Not introduced in court but certainly one of the considerations at hand is that Coil — who has been a fixture of the Texas adult-stores business for decades — has at least one adult-entertainment-related conviction on his record in Texas, so it’s doubtful he would pass the city’s background check.
Consequently, Doctor John’s sued the city, the city countersued, and eventually the case wound up at the appellate level. In the meantime, the store has remained open 24 hours a day selling videos, lingerie and novelties.
However, according to Harmer, “Adult novelties are sex devices. They’re intended to be addictive items, and we think they’re obscene. What is the difference between pornography and a device for some other type of sexual deviance?”
That’s where the case gets a bit sticky. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that obscenity may be banned, but so far nothing sold at Doctor John’s has been declared legally obscene. In fact, nothing even has been prosecuted.
Coil has vowed not to give up the fight. Even if he loses in court, he said his store will remain open so that adults may enjoy adult entertainment in the privacy of their own homes.
