The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to rehear a case against the state’s Adult Entertainment Act.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to rehear a case against the state’s Adult Entertainment Act.
Memphis-based nonprofit Friends of George’s filed the suit last June, claiming that the law restricts freedom of speech.
The law, which restricted some drag shows in Tennessee, was at one point ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge in Memphis. However, a separate federal appeals court reversed the ruling, finding that Friends of George’s lacked the legal right to sue over the law. The Sixth Circuit declined to rehear the case.
“We fought hard to defend Tennessee’s Adult Entertainment Act, and I am glad that the Court of Appeals declined to rehear the case, preserving Tennessee’s win,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a Wednesday press release. “There has been a lot of misinformation about the Act’s scope since it became law. Tennessee, home to an incredible community of performers and songwriters, respects the awesome importance of the First Amendment. But the First Amendment allows States to restrict adult entertainment to adult-only spaces.”