Schad v. Mount Ephraim 452 U.S. 61 (1981)

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SCHAD v. MOUNT EPHRAIM 452 U.S. 61 (1981)

The Supreme Court, 7–2, reversed the conviction of the operators of an "adult" bookstore for violating a zoning ordinance of a residential town by presenting live entertainment in the form of nude dancing. The state courts had construed the ordinance to forbid all live entertainment; so read, it fell afoul of the first amendment doctrine of overbreadth. The Court concluded that the state's asserted justifications (limiting commerce to residents' "immediate needs," and avoiding problems with parking, trash, and the like) were unsupported by the record, which showed that live entertainment was offered in three other establishments. The dissenters argued that, although banning other entertainment might present First Amendment problems, banning nude dancing did not.

Kenneth L. Karst
(1986)

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