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• Sensations, Inc. v. City of Grand Rapids

LATEST SUMMARIES

CIVIL PROCEDURE, CIVIL RIGHTS, COMMERCIAL LAW, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, GOVERNMENT LAW, PROPERTY LAW & REAL ESTATE
Sensations, Inc. v. City of Grand Rapids, No. 06-2168, 06-2508, 06-2510, 07-1504
In a suit seeking a preliminary injunction against an ordinance regulating sexually oriented businesses alleging violations of First Amendment rights, judgment on the pleadings and grant of attorney's fees for non-city defendants is affirmed as to the preliminary injunction, but reversed as to the attorneys' fees where: 1) the court did not convert defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings into a motion for summary judgment; 2) plaintiffs were not entitled to discovery that might yield evidence disproving negative secondary effects at the local level; 3) the ordinance is constitutional since it was within the city's authority to regulate sexually oriented businesses in order to control the secondary effects of such businesses; 4) a mandatory buffer between performer and audience and a no-touching rule did not violate the right of free association; 5) an offer by private citizens to fund the defense of an ordinance, and acceptance by a local governing body, does not necessarily establish a symbiotic relationship for purposes of a section 1983 claim; and 6) for purposes of attorney's fees, the issue of the symbiotic relationship was an unresolved point of law. Read more...