Supreme Court rejects challenge to strip club tax

WASHINGTON – Georgia’s tax on strip clubs will not be scrutinized by the Supreme Court.

The court on June 30 rejected an appeal from a group of strip club owners arguing the state’s 1% tax on businesses that offer both nude dancing and alcohol violates the First Amendment’s protections for free speech.

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled last year that it does not.

“This tax is significantly less burdensome than similar taxes upheld by other courts,” Georgia Supreme Court Justice Nels S.D. Peterson wrote. “And it can be avoided entirely by not serving alcohol or not performing substantially nude.”

The state legislature passed the “operation assessment” on adult entertainment establishments in 2015 to fund services for sexually exploited children.

The strip club owners say the tax discriminates because it applies only to clubs that feature nude dancing conveying an erotic message.

But lawyers for the state told the U.S. Supreme Court that the tax is content-neutral and addresses the fact that underage sex trafficking is a secondary effect of strip clubs.

The state also said there’s no division among lower courts about the legal issues involved so the Supreme Court doesn’t need to get involved.

“There are very few cases involving taxes on strip clubs,” lawyers for Georgia told the justices, “and they all come out the same way.”