Jacksonville Strippers Lose Challenge to Age Restriction Law

A ban on strippers younger than 21 performing in Jacksonville, Fla. clubs was upheld by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday, in a decision rejecting the dancers’ First Amendment claims.

The city’s ordinance licensing erotic dancers was a content-neutral regulation of expressive activity, and the municipality used sufficient procedures to escape challenges that it was a prior restraint on speech prohibited by the First Amendment, Judge Kevin Newsom wrote for the unanimous panel.

In balancing the government’s regulatory intent with the rights of the dancers, the “government’s interest here—i.e., combating human trafficking—clearly constitutes a ‘substantial governmental interest,’” ...