MPR: Nudity ban goes into effect in Benton County

Nudity ban goes into effect in Benton County
By Jeff Horwich
Minnesota Public Radio
July 11, 2001

In recent months, the three counties that meet in St. Cloud - Benton, Stearns, and Sherburne - have all been considering new laws to stem the growth of adult entertainment. Wednesday, Benton County is the first to put into effect a local ordinance that prohibits nudity in many public and some private places. The county's two exotic dance clubs have said they consider the law unenforceable and unconstitutional. One filed a suit against the county Tuesday in U.S. District Court, but the case will not be heard until next week. For now, it's unclear how or whether the law will be carried out.

A rough wooden cross, draped in Christmas lights, sits just beyond the fence that separates the Sugar Daddy's dance club from the residential property behind it.
(MPR Photo/Jeff Horwich)

IT'S IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO SEE SUGAR DADDY'S, sitting like a sheet-metal warehouse off the side of Highway 10 north of St. Cloud. If the name in giant letters leaves anything to the imagination, the changing words on a towering electric sign spell out what's inside.

Walking into the club means trading the glow of the afternoon sun for the glow of the garments of the club dancers, lit by chains of black lights, and mostly lying - cast off - on the stage. It's a plush, new club, that offers private rooms and lap-dances. The clientele sits scattered in the darkness.

The staff is friendly, but largely silent on the current controversy. The county has moved unequivocally to rein in their business, but their lawyer has told them their victory will come in the courts, not in the media. A manager does say their instructions are to stand firm in the face of the new ordinance.

Most patrons are equally hesitant to talk about the impending ban. But back outside, a young couple leaving the club, Aruna and Matt, come down tentatively on the side of Sugar Daddy's. They stopped because it looked like a memorable place to make a phone call.

"I was really surprised to see it, just so obvious on the road - 'Exotic Dancers.' I do find it degrading to women, but at the same time it is a choice," says Aruna.

"It seems to me like the kind of thing that really should be allowed. You know, freedom of expression. And dancing is form of expression," adds Matt.

Turn the corner - past a rough wooden cross that rises behind Sugar Daddy's eight-foot fence - and tell that to Rick Rassier. Rassier owns the third house down the street behind the club, though his property wraps around the others to come within a few hundred feet.

"Our property is used pretty well, with volleyball, the youth hall, the miniature golf, the ropes course, and the trails," says Rassier, who home-schools his five children on this shady compound.

He also hosts groups of young people throughout the summer, including many church youth groups. In the past Rassier has also used his skill as a one-man volleyball team to speak to kids about his faith, living substance-free, and making responsible life choices.

Rick Rassier owns 10 acres and home-schools his five children in the neighborhood behind Sugar Daddy's. The club sits just beyond this stand of trees. He says he is opposed on moral grounds, and not just because the club is in his neighborhood.
(MPR Photo/Jeff Horwich)

"It's something that I've talked to kids about at camps and schools and here for years. The last 15 years of my life I've been talking to kids about the dangers of this type of industry. And then to have it right next door - well, it's amazing," he says.

Rassier objects to the club as a manifestation of the pornography industry in his community. His sentiments are shared by residents from across Benton County who have picketed from time to time and kept the pressure on the county to draft a public nudity ordinance - even though there is just one other club in the county, near Rice.

Three years after it first began trying to remove the Rice club, The King's Inn, from land that is not zoned for "adult use," Benton County is still in litigation and the club remains. This track record leads Rassier to doubt that the county has the enforcement power to put the clubs out of business.

Minneapolis attorney Randy Tigue has represented The King's Inn, and now represents Sugar Daddy's. He says examples from around the state, including the city of Cannon Falls - whose nudity law provided a guide for Benton County's - has shown the ordinances fall apart in court.

"Our concern is not that we will get prosecuted on the criminal charges, but that the city can use the threat of arrest to intimidate dancers out of engaging in conduct that the Constitution of the United States allows them to engage in," says Tigue.

The Benton County sheriff has declined to say specifically how he'll enforce the new law, which defines nudity as a misdemeanor crime. He could issue warnings, or make arrests on the spot if he thinks the offender is likely to offend again.

Related Links

Morality in Media
Freedom Forumsummary of U.S. Supreme Court ruling on nude dancing
Soapbox: Should nude dance clubs be outlawed?

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