copperhead Posted September 4, 2007 Report Share Posted September 4, 2007 http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/09/03/stripper_petitions.html Monday, September 3, 2007 10:06 PM By Robert Vitale THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Voters who go to the polls Nov. 6 to choose mayors and judges also might get the last word on what goes on inside Ohio strip clubs. Opponents of a no-touching rule approved by state legislators in May submitted 140,000 more signatures than necessary today to get the issue on the fall ballot. Their effort stops the new law from taking effect. Unless invalid signatures doom the statewide referendum, strip-club limits are on hold until voters make the call. In the battle for popular support, strip-club owners and dancers claimed an edge. They turned in 120 boxes of petitions — 382,508 signatures total — to Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's office. Citizens for Community Values, the Cincinnati-based group behind tougher rules, submitted more than 220,000 signatures to get the legislative ball rolling early this year. “Today, the people have spoken even louder,” said Jennifer Welch, a dancer from Cincinnati and a member of the Dancers for Democracy group formed to fight the new rules. “It's time to stop legislating morality.” The bill approved by lawmakers would prohibit strip-club patrons and dancers from touching and would require sex-oriented businesses to shut down at midnight. Leaders of Citizens for Community Values couldn't be reached for comment today. A poll commissioned by the group in May showed 60 percent of Ohioans support a law making strip clubs close at midnight. About 68 percent said physical contact should be banned between dancers and patrons. The Secretary of State's office on E. Broad Street opened on the holiday so officials could accept the boxes of signatures from Citizens for Community Standards, a similarly named group that opposes new rules. The state constitution gives citizens 90 days after a law is passed to collect signatures for a statewide referendum; the timing of the strip-club issue required that the office be open yesterday, said Jeff Ortega, Secretary of State spokesman. State laws allow such matters to be handled on the first business day after a holiday, Ortega said, but the constitution offers no such leeway. “The constitution is what it is,” he said. The Secretary of Statewill send petitions to county boards of elections so signatures can be verified. To put the new rules before voters, opponents need a number equal to 6 percent of the total votes cast in the 2006 governor's race. That's a total of 241,366 valid signatures. The group also must meet a 3 percent threshold in half the state's 88 counties. The group met that requirement in 52 counties, including Franklin and Cuyahoga, said Sandy Theis, spokeswoman for Citizens for Community Standards. In central Ohio, opponents of the strip-club rules topped the 3 percent mark in Madison, Pickaway and Union counties and were below that level in Delaware, Fairfield and Licking. In Hamilton County, where the push for strip-club limits began, opponents collected nearly 55,000 signatures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorne Posted September 4, 2007 Report Share Posted September 4, 2007 I'm in your legal system taking your rights based on my own moral beliefs. It's great to know America is still being subdued by church and state based laws. Go Evangelical Right invading our lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hotrodmama024 Posted September 4, 2007 Report Share Posted September 4, 2007 Good for them... they want to take everything else away, why not take the sleeze that goes with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodRed Posted September 4, 2007 Report Share Posted September 4, 2007 Well I think it is good to hear they got enough signatures to let the people of Ohio deside what happens and not some radical group of bible thumpers and our elected officials. It should be interesting to see the ads for this issue come election time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devils Advocate Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 Well I think it is good to hear they got enough signatures to let the people of Ohio deside what happens and not some radical group of bible thumpers and our elected officials. It should be interesting to see the ads for this issue come election time. Kinda sad that that isn't an option in the first place, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimTaylor751647545500 Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 While they're at it...can they make them have Sirens take down their new obnoxious neon lights? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAOLE Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 I am going to laugh if the law is upheld...and I bet it will be. Not that I care either way, I will laugh because the liberals will come up with some excuse why it did not go their way and will try to get the law overturned in court. Same as always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotCarl Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 I am going to laugh if the law is upheld...and I bet it will be. Not that I care either way, I will laugh because the liberals will come up with some excuse why it did not go their way and will try to get the law overturned in court. Same as always. I think the biggest opponents to this law aren't neccessarily liberals/democrats but regular non-political types who just want to decide for themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTHER91 Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 does anyone really spend alot of time trying to get with strippers (besides sam and friends) cuz all they want is the money if your cool with that then why does it matter that they cant touch you at the club youll be taking them home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cptn janks Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 Legislating Morality #1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckeye1647545503 Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 These girls should be able to do what ever within reason to "earn" thier money. It is like the fact some guy is getting rubed on is going to cause the world to end. They need to find something important to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinner Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 I am going to laugh if the law is upheld...and I bet it will be. Not that I care either way, I will laugh because the liberals will come up with some excuse why it did not go their way and will try to get the law overturned in court. Same as always. quoting thisjust incase it goes the other way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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