BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
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A federal appeals court Tuesday rejected efforts to regulate the all-nude Rumors cabaret and to restrict future sexually oriented businesses in Clermont County's Union Township.
"Our clients are happy," attorney Laura A. Abrams said. "It allows them to continue to be open."
The ruling affirmed a 1997 decision by U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel.
He said the law was unconstitutional because it lacked "a specific, brief time limitation" for deciding whether to renew permits, and that would allow township officials to restrict constitutionally protected activity by delaying renewals.
Judge Spiegel said the law gave trustees 30 days to rule on a completed application, but it did not say when other officials had to produce reports required for the completed application.
The 1995 law - passed the year Rumors opened but never enforced because of legal tangles - restricted hours and required licenses and health and background checks on employees.
Tuesday's ruling was a township loss but not a total rebuff by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.
Judges Boyce F. Martin Jr. and Cornelia G. Kennedy agreed with Ms. Abrams and Judge Spiegel.
They, too, said "an unlimited time period for Union Township to decide whether to issue a permit, allowing Union Township to procrastinate on making a decision" makes the law "constitutionally inadequate."
However, Judge Eugene E. Siler Jr. dissented, saying the "inartfully" written law was sufficiently clear to meet constitutional requirements. Whether his dissent invites further appeals was uncertain. The only surprise in Tuesday's decision was the split. When Ms. Abrams and township lawyer Lawrence E. Barbiere argued their cases before the three-judge panel, the judges suggested the township's law was so badly written it is unconstitutional.
"It doesn't make any sense to me," Judge Martin told the township lawyer. "Go back and rewrite it the correct way." The law doesn't need it, Mr. Barbiere responded, and everything the court wants is in there if the judges will look.
Rumors' fight to stay open included a voters' ban of by-the-glass liquor sales in the precinct where it operates. Some hoped business would dwindle without alcohol sales. Instead, Rumors went from a partial strip show to all-nude, as was allowed by law because alcohol-related restrictions no longer applied.
Mr. Barbiere said he could not comment before consulting with township officials.
