Recent Articles

Chilling speech, Un-chilling beer

Cary S. Wiggins
August 20, 2008 23:56

Last Friday the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued this decision.It concerns an Ohio liquor regulation (Rule 52) that bans "nudity" and "sexual activity" in alcohol-licensed establishments. As drafted, Rule 52 prohibits not only nudity in performances having literary, artistic or political...

Express [read "pierce"] yourself

Cary S. Wiggins
August 16, 2008 18:13

Your bling is not you.The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an unpublished decision yesterday concerning a Brevard County "School Board written policy that prohibits the wearing of non-otic pierced jewelry by students in the Brevard County public school system." What's that, you ask? It is...

Another Georgia town celebrates closing of strip club

Cary S. Wiggins
August 11, 2008 17:10

This picture will save at least 1,000 words: "Byron City Councilman Michael Chidester applauds as the Cafe Erotica sign falls Friday morning in Byron." And another 1,000 words: "Jeff Laborg, pastor at Second Baptist Church in Warner Robins, gives a shout and waves a Bible in the air as the Cafe...

Crisis averted for famous liquor license(s)

Cary S. Wiggins
August 08, 2008 17:35

The Bellini cocktail will remain a menu item at Cipriani, where the drink achieved signature status. (You'll still need $20.95 to buy one, though.)The New York Times reports that the "State Liquor Authority voted 2 to 1 on Wednesday to accept the family’s $500,000 settlement offer, rather than r...

Today's wine-shipping decision ...

Cary S. Wiggins
August 08, 2008 16:48

... arrives courtesy of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.In this case the plaintiffs, who are described as "oenophiles who want easier access to wine from small vineyards in other states," challenged two provisions of Indiana law. These provisions state that wineries inside and outside Indiana...

Reverse Flow

Cary S. Wiggins
August 07, 2008 20:42

"City owes $85,000 for pulling strip club's licence," reports TheSpec.com. According to the article, "[t]he city's licensing committee pulled the defunct strip club's licence in July 2006 because of inactivity. The decision, which was upheld by council, quashed plans to reopen the strip joint. At...

Another town buys an adult business

Cary S. Wiggins
August 01, 2008 14:17

They're all the rage these days."A small town in northeast Georgia has bought a strip club, but it's not planning to get into the adult entertainment business," reports MSNBC.com here.The town of Lavonia is not alone; other cities have taken the plunge.

The Sound of Silence

Cary S. Wiggins
July 20, 2008 15:00

Your application to plop an adult bookstore in our town's commercial shopping center is hereby ...Dennis Loring filed a "site plan application seeking to locate an adult, sexually oriented book and video store in a shopping plaza in North Haven." The commission said no. The trial court said yes....

Have you left your bag of firearms unattended?

Cary S. Wiggins
July 18, 2008 20:18

Happy July 4th!!Are you flying over the holiday? If you're passing through Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Int'l Airport, you'll need to leave your "arms" at home. For now at least. Sound ridiculous? To GeorgiaCarry.Org, Inc. and Georgia Representative Timothy Bearden (R - Villa Rica) it does. So the...

Are obscenity prosecutions on the rise?

Cary S. Wiggins
June 25, 2008 13:33

Maybe. Or maybe not."What’s Obscene? Google Could Have an Answer" appears in tomorrow's edition of The New York Times. The question is whether Internet data --- specifically, Google search results --- may be used at trial to gauge "community standards," whatever that means. The article quotes two t...