Judge Scott Jenkins ruled last week that Texas may not collect a $5-per-patron strip club fee. The fee was expected to raise $40 million per year and pay for sexual assault prevention programs and health insurance for low-income Texans.
Judge Jenkins wrote in an option that, “while furthering laudable goals, violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and is therefore invalid.”
Karen Amacker, a spokeswoman for the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, said her group is disappointed in the ruling and that the fee “is an appropriate long-term, sustainable funding source for programs addressing sexual violence…This is not the end of the adult entertainment fee or of our goal of providing comprehensive sexual assault-related services to Texans.”
Read more about the issue here.