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(Denver-AP) -- The U-S Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of an Ogden strip joint that was shut down by the mayor. The federal appeals court says shutting down the nude dance club was an unlawful prior restraint of free speech.
It's just the latest in a string of cases where the appeals court has overturned Utah's judges on First Amendment grounds.
In this case, the club known as the Tool Box had tried to open up in an Ogden industrial park.
Club owner Michelle Lutz was originally told that sex-oriented businesses were allowed in the area. When she started building her club, a review board said her business couldn't open after all. The matter was appealed to the mayor, who ruled against the club.
The appeals court says that arrangement gives the review board and the mayor too much discretion.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
