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Arkansas porn shop to fight city ordinance
World News Service
November 19, 2012
2 MIN READ TIME

Arkansas porn shop to fight city ordinance

Arkansas porn shop to fight city ordinance
World News Service
November 19, 2012

An adult store in Clarksville, Ark., may challenge the constitutionality of a city ordinance regulating sexually oriented businesses, the state Supreme Court ruled recently.

According to the decision, the X-Mart Adult Superstore may fight the city’s 2006 ordinance requiring pornography shops to be licensed and regulated. Violations could result in up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Bruce Wilson, Clarksville’s city attorney, said the town stands by the ordinance.

“It’s been studied and passed in a manner that’s proper, and as it comes back to the local court, we’ll certainly defend it as vigorously as we can,” he said.

The ordinance gave businesses the opportunity to apply for and receive six-month extensions over a three-year time frame. X-Mart applied for and received one six-month extension, which expired on July 27, 2009. It did not request any others.

In September 2009, the city of Clarksville filed a lawsuit asking the court to close X-Mart. 40 Retail, which operates the store, filed a counterclaim alleging the ordinance violates its freedom of expression.

In January, a Johnson County circuit judge granted a motion for the city, dismissing 40 Retail’s counterclaim.

In its ruling in November, the state Supreme Court said Clarksville’s ordinance on sexually oriented businesses does not provide any benefits to 40 Retail, allowing the store to move forward with its counterclaim.