Ocello v. Koster
Annotate this CaseSeveral businesses filed a petition in the circuit court challenging the validity of Mo. Rev. Stat. 573.525 to 573.540, which regulate certain aspects of sexually oriented businesses in Missouri. The businesses argued that the limitations contained in the statutes concerning, among other things, touching of dancers by patrons and buffer zones around dancers violated the businesses' freedom of speech guaranteed under the First Amendment. The Supreme Court held (1) the restrictions were not content-based limitations on speech but rather were aimed at limiting the negative secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses on the health, welfare, and safety of Missouri residents; (2) the statutes were reasonable time, place and manner or comparable restrictions, and accordingly, the statutes did not unconstitutionally limit speech; and (3) the General Assembly did not violate Mo. Rev. Stat. 23.140 in enacting the statutes.
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