Austin Strip Clubs: Texas appeals to keep ‘pole tax’
The legal battles continue to spin around Texas’ so-called “pole tax,” a $5 entrance fee at strip clubs that has been ruled an unconstitutional regulation of free expression.
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The Texas Entertainment Association, which represents strip clubs across the state, sued and a state district judge struck down the law in 2008. A 2-1 ruling last week by the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals said the tax improperly singles out a form of expression, nude dancing, for regulation.
Stewart Whitehead, an attorney for the strip clubs, declined comment.
The state has argued that it can impose the fee because it applies only to clubs that sell alcohol while offering live nude entertainment. The strip clubs have countered that fee is unconstitutional because it applies only to clubs that have nude dancing.
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The Houston Chronicle reported in May that about half the strip clubs in Texas aren’t paying the fee.