The Kansas House passed legislation today regulating sexually oriented businesses: “adult” bookstores, video stores, arcades, nightclubs, theaters, etc.
Currently, small towns in Kansas are left to fend for themselves when a sexually oriented business decides to move in and set up shop wherever and however they like. If these towns attempt to place constitutional regulations upon sexually oriented businesses, such as where they may locate or how late they may operate, communities can find themselves slapped with high-dollar lawsuits that they cannot afford – but that the “adult” entertainment industry can. Many communities simply do not have the resources to litigate these costly court battles, so the mere threat of legal action suffices to scare them into submission regardless of the validity of the suit.
Regulations on sexually oriented businesses are constitutional because the secondary effects that they have on towns are well documented. Where these establishments go, increased crime, decreased property values, prostitution, drug trafficking, and overall blight are sure to follow.
The Community Defense Act would protect Kansas communities by mandating midnight closings for sexually oriented businesses and not allowing them to be built within 1,000 feet of churches, schools, playgrounds, and homes.