LOS ANGELES, CA — It seemed like a good idea at the time, but a California Court of Appeals has put the kibosh on using free speech rights as an argument against denying strip club customers the right to drink alcohol on premises. SP Star Enterprises had hoped that appealing to the court’s sense of alcohol-induced fair play would earn it the right to sell cocktails, beer and wine at its downtown LA strip club, Little Tokyo. The company also owns a Penthouse-branded club.
Alas for Little Tokyo Showgirls, the complaints of a Buddhist temple and a mortuary trumped the desire to drink a Sex on the Beach while pretty girls undulate to hip hop and rock tunes while becoming progressively more naked.
An initial denial of the company’s alcohol application had been made by the city’s Central Area Planning Commission (APC). SP Star Enterprises naturally appealed that decision, which was upheld in court. The latest appeal, claiming discrimination due to the allegedly unpopular form of expression taking place within its doors, did not win additional court support.
Little Tokyo had a temporary liquor license briefly during 2006, but it was revoked – a move supported by not only the APC but also by two members of the City Council, the Los Angeles Police Department and community representatives including the Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, which all contended that the club did not fit in with the surrounding neighborhood.
Explaining his decision, Justice Klein stated that “The case does not involve free speech, but the right to sell alcohol, which is not a protected activity and does not involve a fundamental vested right.”
Bracing for any further claims of discrimination, Klein continued by assuring that “The standards applied by the APC are not vague or arbitrary, and the APC’s decision finds substantial support in the record.”
Little Tokyo Showgirls is currently a fully-nude juice bar. Los Angeles clubs which permit dancers to remove all of their clothing may not serve alcohol, although complete nudity is allowed in clubs which serve only sodas, juices and other non-alcoholic beverages.
