First Amendment – Zoning – Injunction

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: BBL, Incorporated v. City of Angola

Case No: 14-1199

Officials: MANION, WILLIAMS, and SYKES, Circuit Judges

Practice Area: First Amendment – Zoning – Injunction

BBL, Inc petition for injunction preventing city’s amendment of zoning ordinances denied.

“Regulations on sexually oriented businesses are nearly always reviewed under intermediate scrutiny as contentneutral regulations. See, e.g., Alameda Books, 535 U.S. at 434 (plurality opinion); id. at 447–49 (Kennedy, J., concurring); Renton, 475 U.S. at 41; Foxxxy Ladyz Adult World, Inc. v. Village of Dix, 779 F.3d 706, 711–12 (7th Cir. 2015); Ben’s Bar, Inc. v. Village of Somerset, 316 F.3d 702, 723–24 (7th Cir. 2003). The “content-neutral” label in this context is a misnomer; regulations aimed at adult businesses apply to certain types of speech and not others. As such, Justice Kennedy remarked in his Alameda Books concurrence that “[t]hese ordinances are content based, and we should call them so.” Alameda Books, 535 U.S. at 448 (Kennedy, J., concurring).”

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.