On March 28, a Texas court ruled that the government may not impose a $5/customer “pole tax” at strip clubs. The proceeds of the tax were to benefit victims of sexual assault and those who were uninsured in Texas (quite a combination, no?).
In Texas Entertainment Association Inc. v. Combs, Judge Scott Jenkins ruled that the tax violated the First Amendment and did not effectively advance a compelling government interest. Judge Jenkins found “[t]here is no evidence that combining alcohol with nude erotic dancing causes dancers to be uninsured, that any dancer is in fact uninsured, or that any uninsured dancer could qualify for assistance from the fund.”
So there you go. You may go to your strip clubs in Texas without fear of surcharge.
What does it mean otherwise? Likely nothing. The reality is that most sin taxes are enacted based on morality more than legality – just look at the crack tax and pimp tax. Proponents of such taxes have experienced mixed results and have adopted a more or less “you win some, you lose some” attitude. So, it’s clearly not the end of sin taxes. The works of Jenna Jameson and Dita von Teese both live to see another day.
