Texas Bans Adults From Working In Sexually Oriented Businesses
The state that’s trying to ban abortions recently passed a law banning adults from working in adult book stores, strip clubs, and other sexually oriented businesses. Typical Texas nonsense:
The Lone Star State raised the minimum legal age for working in a sexually oriented business from 18 to 21. Texas sex-shop and strip-club workers responded by suing the state in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. They argue that adults younger than 21 have a “constitutionally protected liberty interest in pursuing a chosen occupation” and that the “disconnect” between the law’s objectives and its minimum employment age is “obvious.”
Senate Bill 315 redefined 18- to 20-year-olds as children, making it a violation of the state’s ban on “employment harmful to children” to employ or induce adults younger than 21 to work nude, topless, or in any “sexually oriented commercial activity.” That crime is a second-degree felony, “regardless of whether the actor knows the age of the victim.” It carries a two-year mandatory minimum sentence, a maximum sentence of 20 years, and a fine of up to $10,000.
A lawyer for plaintiffs attempting to repeal the law says the case is “far from over.”
[Reason: Barely Legal Strippers Now Illegal in Texas]
