JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Strip clubs in Jacksonville, Florida won an important victory last month over city officials who were using city council regulations and law enforcement to interfere with their businesses and potentially endanger the sex workers they employ.
Two weeks ago, Jacksonville city lawyers settled lawsuits filed by the clubs and agreed to a deal paying $60,000 to the businesses and limiting how police deal with sex workers while inspecting supposed “costume violations.”
“The agreement also requires the Sheriff’s Office vice unit to delete a database of dancer photos it maintains after the photos have been kept for the time required by government record-retention rules,” the Florida Times-Union reported.
The agreement also “sets limits on police access to dressing rooms and other parts of the clubs that aren’t public.”
"Officers won’t inspect areas that aren’t public without a warrant or permission from the person running the club, the agreement says, and dancers will only be ‘processed’ through those inspections in public areas unless the club management agrees otherwise," according to the Florida Times-Union report.
Prior to the settlement, dancers at the clubs had to contend with dressing room raids, threats of being charged with criminal offenses, and having their photos and legal names kept on file and potentially made public.
Another issue of contention between the clubs and the city was left undecided by the agreement: whether the current minimum age of 21 for dancers, adopted by Jacksonville’s City Council in 2020, is in fact unconstitutional.
The clubs were represented by adult entertainment attorney Gary Edinger, who originally sued Jacksonville in 2019 on behalf of dancers and the operators of two businesses, Emperor’s Gentleman’s Club and Flash Dancers.
Officials Abusing 'Human Trafficking' Rhetoric
Edinger spoke to Jacksonville's News 4 JAX station and explained the ongoing battle against the City of Jacksonville and Sheriff Mike Williams.
Edinger and other lawyers "argued that businesses like Wacko’s lost revenue when they were shut down and dancers were also affected because they couldn’t work," News 4 reported.
Some city leaders, according to the report, have made fact-free allegations linking clubs with "human trafficking."
“Bullshit," called Edinger. "That’s bullshit. Here’s the fact — the City of Jacksonville has never made a human trafficking arrest in an adult entertainment system, not in the bikini bars and not in the nude clubs.
"The number of arrests for human trafficking is zero," he added, and pointed out that "dancers charged with adult entertainment code ordinances, like uniform violations, should have been ticketed for civil violations and not arrested on criminal charges."
