A federal appeals court on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit challenging a Tennessee law that protects children from viewing sexually explicit performances.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that a group challenging a Tennessee law shielding kids from being exposed to sexually explicit drag shows lacked standing. A Memphis-based theater group called Friends of George’s had sued to overturn the law, claiming that it violated the First Amendment.
“But the law in this area is clear—there is no constitutional interest in exhibiting indecent material to minors,” wrote Judge John Nalbandian in the majority decision. “The only constitutionally protected expressions implicated by the [law] are adult-oriented performances that can be constitutionally restricted from minors but not from adults—a narrow slice of speech.”
In a dissenting opinion, Judge Andre Mathis said that the law was a restriction on the First Amendment.
The law was passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature in 2023 and signed by GOP Governor Bill Lee. In June of 2023, a federal judge blocked the law from going into effect, saying that it was “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad.”
According to a summary of the law, it “creates an offense for a person who engages in an adult cabaret performance on public property or in a location where the adult cabaret performance could be viewed by a person who is not an adult.”
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti celebrated the court’s ruling in a statement.
“Tennessee’s Adult Entertainment Act has been consistently misrepresented since its adoption,” said Skrmetti. “As a state overflowing with world-class artists and musicians, Tennessee respects the right to free expression. But as the Court noted, Tennessee’s ‘harmful to minors’ standard is constitutionally sound and Tennessee can absolutely prohibit the exhibition of obscene material to children. The Court of Appeals focused on what the law actually says and ordered the case dismissed.”
Republican leadership in the state also weighed in, applauding the ruling.
“Children should never be exposed to strip shows. In TN, they won’t be,” said House Majority Leader William Lamberth.
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