The Texas Supreme Court has decided that the ‘pole tax’, a 5-dollar-per-customer fee that strip clubs, which serve alcohol, are required to pay the state, is constitutional.
The court overturned the decision of the lower court, which had declared the fee as unconstitutional, saying that the fee did not violate the clubs’ free-speech rights, reports the New York Times.
Justice Nathan L. Hecht wrote for the court that the fee is a ‘minimal restriction’ on the businesses and that any establishment seeking to avoid the fee “need only offer nude entertainment without allowing alcohol to be consumed”.
He also added that the fee was not to suppress expression in nude dancing, but was intended at “the secondary effects of nude dancing when alcohol is being consumed.”
State legislators passed the Sexually Oriented Business Fee Act in 2007, which imposed the fee on nearly 200 establishments that feature live nude performances and allow the consumption of alcohol.
The fee, which is imposed on the business and not the patron, is intended to raise money for sexual assault prevention programs and health insurance coverage for low-income people.