A federal judge has asked for more time to review police data after several Dallas strip clubs and other sexually oriented businesses (SOBs) filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming the new restriction placed on their organizations is unconstitutional.
The new restriction requires sexually oriented businesses to shut down from 2 a.m. until 6 a.m. every day.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn said on January 28 that she would need more information on the data Dallas Police used to justify the restrictions.
The judge called for another hearing to be held sometime around February 7, at which point she would have had more time to review the data and make a more definitive ruling on the regulations.
Lynn added that there was no need to ban the city from enforcing the new restrictions since Dallas Police will not begin enforcing them until all affected businesses have received written notification of the policy’s commencement.
According to The Dallas Morning News, the new date for the next hearing has not been determined.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the Association of Club Executives of Dallas filed the lawsuit with a federal court a few hours after the City Council voted unanimously in favor of the restrictions.
The lawsuit claims the restriction was unconstitutional because it only targets sexually oriented businesses and infringes on the constitutionally protected freedom of expression.
The suit also alleges that the new restriction would negatively impact the businesses’ revenues and force their employees out of their jobs.
However, the city responded to the lawsuit by claiming the restriction is in no way a ban on any constitutional rights. Instead, it limits the times at which these rights can be exercised.
The city also argued in court that it does not believe the income of workers would be heavily impacted because the new rules do not amount to a total shutdown of sexually oriented businesses.