| Erie v. Pap's A. M. | |
|---|---|
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| Argued November 10, 1999 Decided March 29, 2000 | |
| Full case name | City of Erie, et al. v. Pap's A. M., tdba "Kandyland" |
| Citations | 529 U.S. 277 (more) 120 S. Ct. 1382; 146 L. Ed. 2d 265 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | 553 Pa. 348, 719 A.2d 273. The state supreme court determined that petitioner City's ordinance banning public nudity violated respondent operator of totally nude dancing establishment's right to freedom of expression under U.S. Const. amend. I. |
| Holding | |
| The ordinance was content-neutral because it regulated conduct alone, did not target nudity that contained an erotic message, and petitioner's interest in preventing harmful secondary effects associated with adult entertainment establishments was not related to the suppression of the exotic message conveyed by nude dancing. The O'Brien test for evaluating restrictions on symbolic speech therefore applied, and was successfully met. Reversed. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | O'Connor (Parts I and II), joined by Rehnquist, Kennedy, Souter, Breyer |
| Plurality | O'Connor (Parts III and IV), joined by Rehnquist, Kennedy, Breyer |
| Concurrence | Scalia, joined by Thomas |
| Concur/dissent | Souter |
| Dissent | Stevens, joined by Ginsburg |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. Amend. I | |
Erie v. Pap's A. M., 529 U.S. 277 (2000), was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States regarding nude dancing as free speech. The court held that an ordinance banning public nudity did not violate the operator of a totally nude entertainment establishment's constitutional right to free speech.[1]