Glen Theatre, Inc. v. Civil City of South Bend

695 F. Supp. 414, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10287, 1988 WL 94937
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedSeptember 9, 1988
DocketCiv. S 85-353, S 85-598 and S 85-722
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 695 F. Supp. 414 (Glen Theatre, Inc. v. Civil City of South Bend) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Glen Theatre, Inc. v. Civil City of South Bend, 695 F. Supp. 414, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10287, 1988 WL 94937 (N.D. Ind. 1988).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ALLEN SHARP, Chief Judge.

This case is before the court on remand from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. In a Memorandum and Order signed by this Judge on July 26, 1985, defendants were preliminarily enjoined from arresting *415 or prosecuting or threatening to arrest or prosecute plaintiffs. On October 10, 1985, a permanent injunction was issued. The injunction was appealed and on September 30, 1986, the Seventh Circuit, speaking through Chief Judge Cummings, reversed this court’s order and remanded the matter. Glen Theatre, Inc. v. Pearson, 802 F.2d 287 (7th Cir.1986). This court consolidated the Glen Theatre case with Miller v. City of South Bend, Cause Number S 85-598, and Diamond v. City of South Bend, Cause Number S 85-722. A hearing was held in open court on January 11,1988. At that time this Judge set deadlines for filing briefs and proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law by all parties. Those briefs have since been filed and oral argument was heard on July 15, 1988, at which time this court took the matter under advisement. It is now prepared to render its decision in this case.

I. Findings of Fact

This court adopts the findings of facts as set forth in its Memorandum and Order in the Glen Theatre action, which was dated July 26, 1985. The relevant portion of that Memorandum and Order is attached hereto as Appendix “A”.

This court also adopts the statement of facts set forth by Judge Robert L. Miller, Jr. in his Memorandum and Order in the Miller case, Cause Number S 85-598, dated May 5, 1986. The relevant portion of that Memorandum and Order is attached hereto as Appendix “B”.

Finally, this court adopts the fact findings as stated by Judge Miller in his Memorandum and Order in the Diamond case, Cause Number S 85-722, dated May 5, 1986. The relevant portion of that Memorandum and Order is attached hereto as Appendix “C”.

II. Conclusions of Law

The concept of the “law of the case” has specific application here. An inferior court must apply the decision of a superior appellate court. United States of America v. City of Chicago, 853 F.2d 572, 576 (7th Cir.1988). The decision of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in this case has at least two salient features. First, it specifically cited with approval the decision of the Supreme Court of Indiana in State of Indiana v. Baysinger, 272 Ind. 236, 397 N.E.2d 580 (1979). Secondly, it reversed this court’s decision which had been based on First Amendment considerations. The composite effect of the decision of the Court of Appeals in this case is to create narrow constraints for this court’s present decisional process. The Seventh Circuit mandate, which was spelled out at the end of the opinion was instructive:

The district court should examine the plaintiffs’ proffered evidence of the dancing they wish to perform and decide, whether if considered as a whole, the activity should be afforded First Amendment protection.

In the preceding paragraph of the opinion, the court said:

Plaintiffs are free to pursue their argument in district court that the nude dancing they wish to perform is expressive activity protected by the First Amendment and outside the reach of the public nudity statute as construed by Baysinger.

As this court understands these words, the type of dancing performed by these particular plaintiffs should be scrutinized by this Judge, who must then decide whether such activity is protected under the First Amendment. The plaintiffs in Cause Numbers S 85-722 and S 85-598 submitted a videotape as evidence of the type of dancing they wish to perform. 1 Plaintiffs in Cause Number S 85-353 apparently also incorporated that video tape as evidence of the dancing they wanted to perform. See “Supplemental Brief of Plaintiffs Darlene Miller and Jr.’s Kitty Kat Lounge, Inc.” at page 3 (“The parties *416 have agreed to incorporate proof offered by them at the hearings of March 11, 1986 as part of the record of this case.”). It should be noted at this point that plaintiffs’ counsel conceded in open court on July 15, 1988, that the Glenn Theatre, formerly located at 500 West Chippewa Avenue, was very recently destroyed by fire. Therefore, the cause of action has become moot as to that plaintiff. See, DeFunis v. Odegaard, 416 U.S. 312, 94 S.Ct. 1704, 40 L.Ed. 2d 164 (1974).

This court has viewed the entire videotape which was entered into evidence. The tape consists of four separate performances. The performances are basically identical. They consist of a female, fully clothed initially, who dances to one or more songs as she proceeds to remove her clothing. Each dance ends with the dancer totally nude or nearly nude. The dances are done on a stage or on a bar and are not a part of any type of play or dramatic performance. They are simply what are commonly referred to as “striptease” acts. This court must determine whether such acts are protected by the First Amendment.

This court is writing on anything but a clean slate. Many courts in this state, and most other states, have addressed the subject of public nudity in a First Amendment context. Three basic premises are universally accepted. First, clearly all nudity is not obscene. Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville, 422 U.S. 205, 213, 95 S.Ct. 2268, 2274-2275, 45 L.Ed.2d 125 (1975). Second, nudity which is obscene is not protected. Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15, 93 S.Ct. 2607, 37 L.Ed.2d 419 (1973); Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476, 484-485, 77 S.Ct. 1304, 1308-1309, 1 L.Ed.2d 1498 (1957); American Booksellers Ass’n, Inc. v. Hudnut, 771 F.2d 323, 324 (7th Cir.1985). Third, some forms of nude dancing are clearly protected. Schad v. Mt. Ephraim, 452 U.S. 61, 66, 101 S.Ct. 2176, 2181, 68 L.Ed.2d 671 (1981) (“nude dancing is not without its First Amendment protections from official regulations.”) 2 Apart from those premises, however, the decisions throughout the country, although not always entirely clear, have been moving in the general direction of finding particular instances of nude dancing constitutionally protected.

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Related

Triplett Grille, Inc. v. City of Akron
816 F. Supp. 1249 (N.D. Ohio, 1993)
Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc.
501 U.S. 560 (Supreme Court, 1991)
Miller v. Civil City of South Bend
887 F.2d 826 (Seventh Circuit, 1989)

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695 F. Supp. 414, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10287, 1988 WL 94937, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/glen-theatre-inc-v-civil-city-of-south-bend-innd-1988.