Reversed by published opinion. WILKINS, J., wrote the majority opinion, in which ERVIN, C.J., HALL, MURNAGHAN, WILKINSON, HAMILTON, LUTTIG, WILLIAMS, MICHAEL, and MOTZ, JJ., and PHILLIPS, Senior Judge, joined. NIEMEYER, J., wrote an opinion [991]*991concurring in part and dissenting in part, in which RUSSELL and WIDENER, JJ., joined.
OPINION
WILKINS, Circuit Judge:
11126 Baltimore Boulevard, Incorporated, t/a Warwick Books, brought this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983 (West 1994), claiming that the Prince George’s County, Maryland adult bookstore ordinance, Prince George’s County, Md., Code subtit. 27, part 16, violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the County. Warwick Books appeals, contending that the ordinance imposes an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech because it fails to provide for adequate procedural safeguards. We agree and reverse the judgment of the district court.
I.
In May 1986, Warwick Books filed an action in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, maintaining that the Prince George’s County adult bookstore ordinance in effect at that time violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Although the district court concluded that the ordinance constituted a content-neutral time, place, and manner restriction, it found the ordinance unconstitutional as applied to adult bookstores because the interest advanced by the County was not sufficiently supported by evidence in the legislative record and because the standards to be applied in determining whether a special exception should be granted were vague and subject to arbitrary manipulation. 11126 Baltimore Blvd., Inc. v. Prince George’s County, Md., 684 F.Supp. 884, 891, 899 (D. Md.1988). This court reversed the decision of the district court, concluding that the ordinance constituted a eon-tent-neutral time, place, and manner restriction which was narrowly tailored to serve the interest of Prince George’s County in minimizing the secondary effects associated with, and the protection of children from, adult bookstores and that it provided for ample other opportunities for speech. 11126 Baltimore Blvd. v. Prince George’s County, Md., 886 F.2d 1415, 1420, 1426 (4th Cir.1989). Additionally, we determined that the adult bookstore ordinance “provide[d] definite guidelines, -consistent with the substantial and legitimate interests advanced by the County, which zoning officials must apply when determining whether to grant a conditional use or special exception permit.” Id. at 1427. Although not all of the steps in the process leading to a decision on an application for a special exception were bound by precise time limitations, we noted that the' length of the process necessary to obtain a special exception did not render the ordinance ah unconstitutional prior restraint because the uncontradicted evidence submitted by County officials indicated that the application process normally took approximately six months. Id. at 1428 n.8. We also observed that adult bookstores were generally permitted to continue operation while the exception was sought. Id.
Thereafter, the Supreme Court rendered its decision in FW/PBS, Inc. v. City of Dallas, 493 U.S. 215, 110 S.Ct. 596, 107 L.Ed.2d 603 (1990), holding that a Dallas business licensing scheme constituted an unconstitutional prior restraint on protected speech because it failed to impose adequate procedural safeguards to ensure a prompt decision on a license application and prompt judicial review of a denial. The Court granted Warwick Books’ petition for a writ of certiorari, vacated our decision in 11126 Baltimore Boulevard, and remanded for reconsideration in light of FW/PBS. 11126 Baltimore Blvd., Inc. v. Prince George’s County, Md., 496 U.S. 901, 110 S.Ct. 2580, 110 L.Ed.2d 261 (1990). On remand, we learned that the County had amended its adult bookstore ordinance to remedy the deficiencies identified in the prior district court decision. 11126 Baltimore Blvd. v. Prince George’s County, Md., 924 F.2d 557 (4th Cir.) (per curiam), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 819, 112 S.Ct. 76, 116 L.Ed.2d 50 (1991). And, although the County asserted that it intended to return to its prior zoning ordinance if this court upheld the constitutionality of the prior ordinance, we concluded that the County was seeking an [992]*992advisory opinion and dismissed the appeal. Id.
Following our dismissal, the County further amended its adult bookstore ordinance. As presently codified, the ordinance prohibits adult bookstores1 from operating anywhere in the County unless they obtain a special exception and adhere to other requirements imposed by the ordinance.2 Prince George’s County, Md., Code § 27-903. To obtain a special exception, adult bookstores must file an application. In reviewing the application, the ordinance requires that the District Council for Prince George’s County consider a number of factors bearing on the suitability of the proposed site for an adult bookstore.3 Id. § 27-904(b). In addition, the ordinance requires that the administrative review procedure be concluded and that the District Council render its decision on the application for a special exception within 150 days after the acceptance of a complete application. Id. § 27-904.01. If the District Council fails to render a decision within 150 days, the application is deemed denied. Id. § 27-904.01(i).4 Although the ordinance itself contains no provision for judicial review, the parties agree that Maryland law provides for judicial review of final administrative decisions. See Md. Ann.Code art. 66B, § 4.08 (Michie 1988 & Supp.1994). Under Maryland procedural rules, an adult bookstore seeking review of [993]*993an administrative denial of a special exception would face a delay of up to 93 days before briefing could be concluded, assuming that the bookstore could complete each of the steps in the process with which it is charged within one day.5 The administrative judge of the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County issued an administrative order providing that an appeal from an administrative decision relating to the Prince George’s County adult bookstore ordinance is to be assigned to a specific judge, who shall schedule oral argument no later than five days after the day for filing a reply brief under the Maryland Rules and shall thereafter render a decision within five days after the conclusion of oral argument. In re B-Rule Appeals in Adult Bookstore Cases, MisC. No. __. (Cir. Ct. Prince George’s County, Md. March 19, 1993). Any extension of these judicially-imposed time limitations may not be granted except by consent of the parties. Id.
Warwick Books’ instant action presents a facial challenge to the constitutionality of the amended ordinance. See FW/PBS, 493 U.S. at 223-24, 110 S.Ct. at 603-04. The parties agreed before the district court that there were no material factual disputes and that the sole issue presented for decision was whether the ' ordinance imposed sufficient procedural safeguards on administrative and judicial review to avoid being an unconstitutional prior restraint.6 On cross motions for summary judgment, the district court entered judgment for the County. 11126 Baltimore Blvd., Inc. v. Prince George’s County, Md., 828 F.Supp. 370 (D. Md.1993). It noted that this court had previously ruled that the six-month estimate for processing special exceptions was not unreasonable and concluded that “if six months is reasonable, then five months must be also.” Id. at 374. Moreover, the district court found no constitutional deficiency with the promptness of judicial review. Id. at 376. Warwick Books appeals this decision, claiming that the ordinance constitutes an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech because it does not provide for adequate procedural safeguards.7
II.
Although neither party contests the issue, we initially consider whether Warwick Books may pursue a facial challenge to the ordinance based on its claim that the ordinance is an unconstitutional prior restraint [994]*994on speech protected by the First Amendment.8 It is well settled “that in the area of free expression a licensing statute placing unbridled discretion in the hands of a government official or agency constitutes a prior restraint and may result in censorship.” City of Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Publishing Co., 486 U.S. 750, 757, 108 S.Ct. 2138, 2144, 100 L.Ed.2d 771 (1988). Permitting government officials unbridled discretion in determining whether to allow protected speech presents an unacceptable risk of both indefinitely suppressing and chilling protected speech. See FW/PBS, 493 U.S. at 227, 110 S.Ct. at 605; Freedman v. Maryland, 380 U.S. 51, 59, 85 S.Ct. 734, 739, 13 L.Ed.2d 649 (1965). Without the constraint of specific standards to guide the decisionmaker in judging whether a license should issue, an impermissible danger exists that a government official may decide to exercise his judgment to suppress speech he personally finds distasteful or that an applicant may feel compelled to censor his own speech. See Lakewood, 486 U.S. at 757-58, 108 S.Ct. at 2144-45; Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad, 420 U.S. 546, 553, 95 S.Ct. 1239, 1243, 43 L.Ed.2d 448 (1975). And, without procedural safeguards to ensure a prompt resolution, an applicant may conclude that seeking a determination is too burdensome a task to pursue, impermissibly chilling the exercise of protected speech. See Freedman, 380 U.S. at 59, 85 S.Ct. at 739. “[Tjhese evils engender identifiable risks to free expression that can be effectively alleviated only through a facial challenge.” Lakewood, 486 U.S. at 757, 108 S.Ct. at 2144; see also FW/PBS, 493 U.S. at 223-24, 110 S.Ct. at 603-04 (failure to place time limitations on decisionmaker “is a species of unbridled discretion” warranting permission to bring a facial challenge). Accordingly, when these risks are threatened to a significant degree by state regulation, courts must permit those subject to the laws to bring an immediate facial challenge. Lakewood, 486 U.S. at 759, 108 S.Ct. at 2145.
We conclude that the Prince George’s County adult bookstore ordinance bears a close enough relationship to, and engenders a sufficient risk of suppression of, protected expression to permit Warwick Books to bring a facial challenge to the ordinance. There can be little question that the ordinance is focused directly at the placement of bookstores selling non-obscene adult materials that are engaged in conduct protected by the First Amendment, see FW/PBS, 493 U.S. at 224, 110 S.Ct. at 603; Smith v. California, 361 U.S. 147, 150, 80 S.Ct. 215, 217, 4 L.Ed.2d 205 (1959), and could be used effectively as an avenue for censorship, cf. Lakewood, 486 U.S. at 761, 108 S.Ct. at 2146 (comparing scheme regulating the placement of newsracks with the requirement of obtaining a building permit). Nor can it be doubted that a scheme establishing a prior restraint on protected speech that places unbridled discretion in the decisionmaker by failing to impose either objective standards for decision or adequate procedural safeguards creates an impermissible risk of suppression with every application. See FW/PBS, 493 U.S. at 223-24, 110 S.Ct. at 603-04.
III.
The County initially disputes that the Prince George’s County adult bookstore ordinance is a licensing scheme and contends that the procedural safeguards identified in Freedman—and applied to invalidate the sexually oriented business licensing scheme in FW/PBS—need not be satisfied. Instead, the County argues that the adult bookstore ordinance is merely a zoning ordinance designed to control or eliminate the secondary effects of adult bookstores and, accordingly, that the time, place, and manner analysis applied in City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc., 475 U.S. 41, 106 S.Ct. 925, 89 L.Ed.2d 29 (1986), is the only inquiry that must be conducted. Thus, the County contends that it could constitutionally provide a time frame of 150 months, rather than 150 days, in which to act on an application by a bookstore for a special exception, or indeed, [995]*995that it could specify no time frame at all for decision.
In Renton, the Supreme Court considered a constitutional challenge to a city zoning ordinance prohibiting adult motion picture theaters from locating within 1,000 feet of residential zones, single or multiple family dwellings, churches, parks, or schools. The Court held that because the ordinance was a zoning measure designed to combat the undesirable secondary effects of businesses purveying sexually explicit material, it was to be reviewed under the standards applicable to content-neutral time, place, and manner regulations. Renton, 475 U.S. at 49, 106 S.Ct. at 929.
There is no question that the government may appropriately regulate the time, place, and manner of protected speech or that the Prince George’s County adult bookstore ordinance is subject to review under the standards applicable to such review. Further, it is undoubtedly true that if Prince George’s County had structured its zoning ordinance like the one reviewed in Renton, no additional analysis of whether the ordinance constituted an unconstitutional prior restraint on protected speech would be required. However, the Prince George’s County adult bookstore ordinance is different from the zoning ordinance reviewed in Renton because it prohibits adult bookstores from operating anywhere within the County until permission in the form of a special exception has been granted. In Renton no such permission was required, with the result that those wishing to engage in protected speech were immediately free to do so anywhere within the city that met the zoning restrictions imposed by the city ordinance.9 Thus, the Renton Court was not called upon to consider whether a zoning ordinance that is structured in a way that prohibits protected speech until permission is granted must be analyzed as a prior restraint.10 Following the decision in Ren-ton, the Court has made clear that otherwise valid content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions that require governmental permission prior to engaging in protected speech must be analyzed as prior restraints and are unconstitutional if they do not limit the discretion of the decisionmaker and provide for the Freedman procedural safeguards.11 See FW/PBS, 493 U.S. at 227-28, 110 S.Ct. at 605-06; see also J.L. Thomas, Inc. v. County of Los Angeles, 232 Cal.App.3d 916, 283 Cal.Rptr. 815, 820 (1991) (holding'zoning ordinance requiring sexually oriented businesses to obtain a conditional use permit was a prior restraint; lack of procedural safeguards rendered ordinance unconstitutional); cf. Marty’s Adult World of Enfield, Inc. v. Town of Enfield, Conn., 20 F.3d 512, 515 (2d Cir.1994) (holding zoning special use permit required for all changes in use from retail to entertainment regardless of content of the entertainment did not constitute a licensing scheme amounting to prior restraint because it did not single out business based on content of speech and permitted business to operate elsewhere without obtaining permit). In FW/PBS, the Court applied prior re[996]*996straint analysis to a Dallas licensing scheme for sexually oriented businesses, regardless of the fact that among the standards imposed upon individuals seeking a license to operate such an establishment was a requirement that the business location comply with applicable zoning restrictions. FW/PBS, 493 U.S. at 225-30, 238-42, 110 S.Ct. at 604-07, 611-14; see Dumas v. City of Dallas, 648 F.Supp. 1061, 1078-89 (N.D.Tex.1986) (setting forth ordinance), aff'd sub nom. FW/PBS, Inc. v. City of Dallas, 837 F.2d 1298 (5th Cir.1988), aff'd in part, vacated in part, 493 U.S. 215, 110 S.Ct. 596, 107 L.Ed.2d 603 (1990). Importantly, in concluding that prior restraint analysis must be applied, the FW/PBS Court necessarily rejected the position advanced by Justice White, and joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist, that because the Dallas licensing scheme constituted a content-neutral time, place, and manner restriction directed at the secondary effects of adult bookstores, the Freedman procedural safeguards were inapplicable. FW/PBS, 493 U.S. at 244-49, 110 S.Ct. at 614-17 (White, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part). Accordingly, we reject the County’s argument that because its adult bookstore ordinance is merely a content-neutral time, place, and manner zoning restriction directed at the secondary effects of such establishments, it is not subject to prior restraint analysis. Having concluded that the ordinance is properly analyzed as a prior restraint, we turn to consider Warwick Books’ argument that the ordinance cannot pass constitutional muster when so analyzed.
IV.
The guarantee of freedom of speech afforded by the First Amendment is abridged whenever the government makes enjoyment of protected speech contingent upon obtaining permission from government officials to engage in its exercise under circumstances that permit government officials unfettered discretion to grant or deny the permission. See FW/PBS, 493 U.S. at 223-27, 110 S.Ct. at 603-06. Such discretion exists when a regulation creating a prior restraint on speech fails to impose adequate standards for officials to apply in rendering a decision to grant or deny permission or when a regulation fails to impose procedural safeguards to ensure a sufficiently prompt decision. Id.
With respect to procedural safeguards, the Supreme Court identified in Freedman the following three requirements necessary to guarantee that a decision is rendered promptly:
(1) any restraint prior to judicial review can be imposed only for a specified brief period during which the status quo must be maintained; (2) expeditious judicial review of that decision must be available; and (3) the censor must bear the burden of going to court to suppress the speech and must bear the burden of proof once in court.
Id. at 227, 110 S.Ct. at 606 (citing Freedman, 380 U.S. at 58-60, 85 S.Ct. at 738-40).
Warwick Books asserts that the Prince George’s County adult bookstore ordinance fails to provide adequate procedural safeguards — and thus is an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech — because the 150-day time period imposed for a decision prior to judicial review is not a “specified brief period” and because prompt judicial review of a denial of a special exception application is unavailable.12 We address these contentions in turn.
[997]*997A.
A prior restraint on speech that imposes no time limitations on the decision-making process plainly fails to satisfy the first requirement set forth in Freedman. See, e.g., FW/PBS, 493 U.S. at 229, 110 S.Ct. at 606; Riley v. National Fed’n of the Blind of N.C., Inc., 487 U.S. 781, 802, 108 S.Ct. 2667, 2680, 101 L.Ed.2d 669 (1988); Vance v. Universal Amusement Co., 445 U.S. 308, 316-17, 100 S.Ct. 1156, 1161-62, 63 L.Ed.2d 413 (1980) (per curiam). However, no clear guideposts mark our way in determining whether the 150-day time period for decision established in the Prince George’s County adult bookstore ordinance constitutes a “specified brief period.”
In Teitel Film Corp. v. Cusack, 390 U.S. 139, 141-42, 88 S.Ct. 754, 755-56, 19 L.Ed.2d 966 (1968) (per curiam), the Court summarily held that a period of 50 to 57 days for obtaining an administrative decision did not amount to a “specified brief period” in the film censorship context. Warwick Books asserts that Teitel Film Corp. should be read to establish a bright-line rule that a 50-day period for an administrative decision necessarily fails to meet the standard set forth in the first Freedman requirement. We cannot agree.
“The core policy underlying Freedman is that the license for a First Amendment-protected business must be issued within a reasonable period of time, because undue delay results in the unconstitutional suppression of protected speech.” FW/PBS, 493 U.S. at 228, 110 S.Ct. at 606 (emphasis added). The reasonableness of the time period during which a restraint on speech may operate prior to judicial review “may vary in different contexts.” United States v. Thirty-Seven Photographs, 402 U.S. 363, 374, 91 S.Ct. 1400, 1407, 28 L.Ed.2d 822 (1971); see TK’s Video, Inc. v. Denton County, Tex., 24 F.3d 705, 708 (5th Cir.1994). Thus, a determination of the reasonableness of the time period during which the restraint on speech may constitutionally operate requires an examination of the type of judgments to be made by the government officials and the hardship placed on the class of applicants by the restraint.13 See TK’s Video, 24 F.3d at 708.
We apply these factors in resolving whether the 150-day time period for decision imposed by the Prince George’s County adult bookstore ordinance is a reasonably brief time period. Although zoning decisions necessarily involve a detailed examination of numerous factors, we are unable to conclude that 150 days is a reasonably brief time frame within which to render a decision. The ordinance is designed to ameliorate the adverse secondary effects of adult bookstores and to prevent exposure and access by children to such establishments by imposing time, place, and manner restrictions on the operation of adult bookstores. See Prince George’s County, Md., Code § 27-901(b). Comparison of schemes devised and time limitations imposed by other jurisdictions to remedy the perceived evils occasioned by adult bookstores discloses that the necessary inquiries may be performed in a shorter time frame than that imposed by Prince George’s County. See TK’s Video, 24 F.3d at 708 (upholding 60-day period for acting on licens-[998]*998big application for adult bookstore); Chesapeake B & M, Inc. v. Harford County, Md., 831 F.Supp. 1241, 1249-50 (D. Md.1993) (44-day time period for review of adult bookstore licensing application not unreasonable), rev’d in part, vacated in part, and remanded on other grounds, 58 F.3d 1005 (4th Cir.1995) (en banc); Wolff v. City of Monticello, 803 F.Supp. 1568, 1574 (D. Minn.1992) (noting that 90-day time period for decision on adult bookstore license application not unreasonable per se); see generally Thirty-Seven Photographs, 402 U.S. at 371-74, 91 S.Ct. at 1405-07 (construing federal statute imposing a prior restraint to require that judicial review be sought within 14 days and concluding that delays of between 40 days and six months could not be sanctioned). In addition, the record is devoid of any evidence that would support the necessity of a 150-day delay to complete the administrative review process for the zoning scheme implemented by the County.
Moreover, the Prince George’s County adult bookstore ordinance imposes a significant hardship on such establishments. In Riley, 487 U.S. at 801-02, 108 S.Ct. at 2680-81, the Court concluded that a North Carolina law, which required professional fundraisers to apply for a license prior to soliciting charitable contributions in the state, was unconstitutional because it faded to impose time limitations on when a decision on the application had to be rendered and compelled the fundraisers’ sdence during the delay. See also Famine Relief Fund v. West Virginia, 905 F.2d 747, 753 (4th Cir.1990) (applying Freedman factors and holding that a West Virginia charitable solicitation statute was an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech in part because it prohibited charitable organizations, whose application for a permit to solicit in the state had been denied, from doing so pending judicial vindication). Similarly, the Prince George’s County adult bookstore ordinance requires that applicants for a special exception refrain from operating until the exception is granted.14
Although the County may properly regulate the time, place, and manner of the operation of an adult bookstore through its zoning ordinances, to pass constitutional muster any zoning ordinance imposing a prior restraint on the exercise of protected speech must provide for a determination in a specified and reasonably brief period of time. Under the circumstances presented here, we cannot say that the 150-day time period for decision imposed by the County satisfies this standard.
B.
Warwick Books also asserts that the ordinance imposes an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech because Maryland law fails to assure prompt judicial review of an administrative denial. Although the County acknowledges that access to the judicial system would not be available until a final administrative decision is rendered — a period of up to 150 days after an application is filed — it nevertheless asserts that prompt judicial review is available because an applicant for a special exception may seek judicial review of the denial of its application immediately after an administrative decision is rendered.
The County bases its argument on Part II of Justice O’Connor’s opinion in FW/PBS, maintaining that it relaxes Freedman’s prompt judicial review requirement. Although the County recognizes that Justice O’Connor was writing for only three members of the Court in this portion of her opinion, it argues that because three other members of the Court — Chief Justice Rehnquist, Justice White, and Justice Sealia— concurred in part and dissented in part, reasoning that the Dallas licensing scheme [999]*999should not be analyzed under Freedman at all, these Justices implicitly agreed with Justice O’Connor that the Freedman protections should be diminished. We disagree.
Justice White and Chief Justice Rehnquist did not join in Part II of Justice O’Connor’s opinion, arguing instead that because the licensing scheme was a valid time, place, and manner restriction, it need not be analyzed as a prior restraint. Justice Scalia believed that the sale or rental of sexually explicit materials was not protected by the First Amendment, so there was no prior restraint of protected speech; consequently, he refused to join Part II of Justice O’Connor’s opinion. Since these three Justices did not believe that the ordinance was subject to prior restraint analysis, it is impossible to conclude that if they had agreed with Justice O’Connor that the licensing scheme was subject to prior restraint analysis, lesser protection should have been provided.
Moreover, it is well settled that “[w]hen a fragmented Court decides a case and no single rationale explaining the result enjoys the assent of five Justices, ‘the holding of the Court may be viewed as that position taken by those Members who concurred in the judgments on the narrowest grounds.’ ” Marks v. United States, 430 U.S. 188, 193, 97 S.Ct. 990, 993, 51 L.Ed.2d 260 (1977) (quoting Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 169 n. 15, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 2923 n. 15, 49 L.Ed.2d 859 (1976)). Thus, even if Justice O’Connor’s opinion in FW/PBS could be read as having altered the Freedman “prompt judicial review” factor (which it cannot, as discussed below), because this position obviously did not gain the assent of the concurring Justices (Brennan, Marshall, and Blackmun, who made clear that they believed that all three of the Freedman procedural safeguards were required), FW/ PBS could not have modified Freedman,15
Further, Part II of Justice O’Connor’s opinion did not relax the Freedman prompt judicial review requirement. The County focuses on Justice O’Connor’s -language referring to the possibility or availability of, or an “avenue for,” “prompt judicial review” to conclude that Justice O’Connor reduced the protection required by the prompt judicial review factor of Freedman. However, Justice O’Connor never gave any indication that she was altering the prompt judicial review requirement. Rather, Justice O’Connor reasoned: (1) that in Freedman three procedural safeguards were identified; (2) that because licensing schemes are different from censorship schemes less protection is necessary for licensing schemes; (3) that the “core policy underlying Freedman” was that a “license for a First Amendment-protected business must be issued16 within a reasonable period of time” to avoid “the unconstitutional suppression of protected speech”; and (4) that “[tjhus, the first two safeguards are essential. ” FW/PBS, 493 U.S. at 227-28, 110 S.Ct. at 606 (emphasis added). She next concluded that the two essential procedural safeguards (time limits on decision and prompt judicial review) were not satisfied by the Dallas licensing scheme, and it therefore was an unconstitutional prior restraint. Finally, she determined that the third Freedman factor need not be applied to the licensing scheme because of its differences from a censorship scheme. Again, nothing in this analysis can be read to support the conclusion that Justice O’Connor was relaxing the prompt judicial review requirement.
Nor can Justice O’Connor’s choice of the words of “prompt judicial review” support a conclusion that she relaxed this requirement. First, when Justice O’Connor refers to “prompt judicial review,” she cites to Freedman, and it is unmistakable that Freedman required that “[a]ny restraint imposed in advance of a final judicial determination on the merits must ... be limited to preservation of the status quo for the shortest fixed period compatible with sound judicial resolution.” Freedman, 380 U.S. at 59, 85 S.Ct. at 739 (emphasis added). In addition, other decisions prior to Justice O’Connor’s in FW/ PBS, including Freedman, used the phrase [1000]*1000“prompt judicial review” to mean a prompt judicial determination. See, e.g., Southeastern Promotions, Ltd., 420 U.S. at 561-62, 95 S.Ct. at 1247-48 (holding that “board’s system did not provide a procedure for prompt judicial review” where judicial decision on the merits was not obtained for more than five months); Thirty-Seven Photographs, 402 U.S. at 367-70, 91 S.Ct. at 1403-05 (using the term “prompt judicial review” as synonymous with “a prompt judicial decision”); Blount v. Rizzi, 400 U.S. 410, 417, 91 S.Ct. 423, 428, 27 L.Ed.2d 498 (1971) (stating that in Freedman the Court “held that to avoid constitutional infirmity a scheme of administrative censorship must ... require ‘prompt judicial review—a final judicial determination on the merits within a specified, brief period”); Freedman, 380 U.S. at 58-60, 85 S.Ct. at 738-40 (using “prompt judicial review” as synonymous with “prompt judicial decision”). Thus, it is clear that Justice O’Connor was alluding to a judicial decision within a specified, brief time when she referred to “prompt judicial review” and that in using these terms interchangeably, she broke no new ground. Thus, read in context, it is simply not reasonable to take her statements that there must be “an avenue for” or “the possibility of’ “prompt judicial review” to mean that mere access to judicial review is sufficient to satisfy this requirement.
One additional point suggests that this is the case. In his dissent from Part II of Justice O’Connor’s opinion, Justice White wrote that “no one suggests that licensing decisions are not subject to immediate appeal to the courts.” FW/PBS, 493 U.S. at 248, 110 S.Ct. at 617. Indeed, while the Dallas licensing scheme itself did not provide for the judicial review, judicial review of decisions of the permit and license appeal board was available. See Dallas Tex., Code § 2-96 (1994); Dumas, 648 F.Supp. at 1067 n. 16; see also M.J.R.’s Fare of Dallas, Inc. v. Permit & License Appeal Bd. of Dallas, 823 S.W.2d 327, 329 (Tex.Ct.App.1991). Thus, the majority of the FW/PBS Justices held that there was no “avenue for prompt judicial review,” 493 U.S. at 229, 110 S.Ct. at 606, even though the possibility of immediate review by the courts following a license denial was available.
In sum, because Justice O’Connor’s decision in FW/PBS cannot properly be read to relax the Freedman prompt judicial review requirement, and because a majority of the Justices of the Supreme Court did not join this reasoning, even if it were susceptible to the reading the County would give it, this court has no authority for failing to apply the prompt judicial review requirement of Freedman.17 In Freedman, the Court held that [1001]*1001procedures which allowed up to four months for an initial judicial decision did not provide for sufficiently prompt judicial review in the film censorship context. 380 U.S. at 55, 59-60, 85 S.Ct. at 737, 739-40. After holding that the Maryland procedures failed to pass constitutional muster, the Court compared them with those in a New York statute fashioned to prevent the sale of obscene books that was upheld in Kingsley Books, Inc. v. Brown, 354 U.S. 436, 77 S.Ct. 1325, 1 L.Ed.2d 1469 (1957) (requiring a trial one day after the joinder of issues and a resolution within two days after the trial). Freedman, 380 U.S. at 60, 85 S.Ct. at 739-40; see also Blount, 400 U.S. at 419-22 & n. 7, 91 S.Ct. at 430-31 & n. 7 (holding that a federal statute constituted an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech in part because it failed to provide for a prompt judicial adjudication and reiterating “that the procedure considered in Kingsley Books ... [was] a model”) (internal quotation marks omitted); Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. City of Dallas, 390 U.S. 676, 690 n. 22, 88 S.Ct. at 1306 n. 22 (1968) (holding prompt judicial review was assured by provision requiring a judicial determination within nine days of the decision of the administrative body); Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan, 372 U.S. 58, 70, 83 S.Ct. 631, 639, 9 L.Ed.2d 584 (1963) (noting that prior restraint on speech “tolerated ... only where it ... assured an almost immediate judicial determination of the validity of the restraint”); Redner v. Dean, 29 F.3d 1495, 1501-02 (11th Cir.1994) (holding that prompt judicial review is never available when judicial review may not be sought until exhaustion of administrative remedies under a scheme that fails to provide adequate time restraints for administrative decision), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 1697, 131 L.Ed.2d 560 (1995); cf. East Brooks Books, Inc. v. City of Memphis, 48 F.3d 220, 225 (6th Cir.1995) (indicating that potential delay of five months from application to judicial hearing is impermissible). In Thirty-Seven Photographs, the Court noted that delays in judicial determination as long as three months could not be sanctioned and construed a federal statute to require a judicial decision within 60 days to uphold the constitutionality of the statute. 402 U.S. at 372-74, 91 S.Ct. at 1406.
The parties do not dispute that even with the benefit of the administrative order, at least 103 days would typically be required to obtain a judicial ruling after the denial of an application for a special exception. Given the instruction provided by the Court, we cannot conclude that a delay in excess of three months for judicial decision, following a 150-day time frame for an administrative decision, ensures a sufficiently prompt judicial review.18
V.
The questions presented are difficult, and there is little authority to guide our decision. Nevertheless, it is undisputed that an adult bookstore which seeks a special exception will face an eight-month delay from the date the application is filed to a judicial resolution of the denial of the application. Given current precedent, we cannot accept that the length of this delay can be considered the type of brief specified period followed by [1002]*1002prompt judicial review that is required to guard against the abridgement of protected speech. Thus, we hold that the Prince George’s County adult bookstore ordinance is an unconstitutional prior restraint on protected speech.
REVERSED.