(news courtesy of the ACE National newsletter by ACE National Director Angelina Spencer)
A federal judge has rejected a request by Dallas adult businesses to stop the city from enforcing new rules requiring them to close between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., that’s the bad news. But here is (potentially) the good news: She’d like to see the actual police data used in support of the new regulation.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn on Friday said she needed more information on the data used by the police department to justify new restrictions, which cited high crime linked to these businesses. Specifically, she asked why ALL adult businesses were being forced into stricter hours of operation if the data only showed strip club crime. She called for another hearing sometime during the week of Feb. 7 so she can make a more definitive ruling.
“They just automatically assumed that anything that happened in that 500 feet could be attributed to a sexually-orientated business, even though there might have been a fast-food restaurant, a gas station or a convenience store in the same area.” Attorney J. Michael Murray
The department pointed to stats compiled from patrols as well as reported crimes and emergency calls within 500 feet of sexually-orientated businesses from 2019 to 2021, which allegedly show a high volume of offenses occurring at adult clubs between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Police officials claim the increased crime at such establishments drains resources and results in people getting hurt or killed.
Attorney J. Michael Murray described the data police used as “shoddy” during a hearing last Friday. He is representing the businesses suing the city. He added that the department data publicly presented to council members didn’t specify how many of the criminal offenses originated from other businesses nearby.
“They just automatically assumed that anything that happened in that 500 feet could be attributed to a sexually-orientated business, even though there might have been a fast-food restaurant, a gas station or a convenience store in the same area,” Murray said.
Notably, no police stats were shown comparing crime near other city late-night businesses to see how they ranked against sexually-orientated businesses.
