State court limits nude dancing ban

PITTSBURGH -- Cities can't ban nude dancing clubs simply because of their perceived negative effect on surrounding neighborhoods, the state Supreme Court ruled in a case that had been handed back to it by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The ruling comes eight years after officials in Erie tried to clamp down on the Kandyland strip club, not by banning nude dancing, which the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled an affront to free speech inherent in erotica, but by targeting an alleged "secondary effect" on the clubs' neighborhoods.

The 1994 ordinance required dancers to wear pasties and G-strings.

However, in a 34-page ruling Thursday, the state Supreme Court said the Pennsylvania Constitution provides an even broader scope concerning free speech than the U.S. Constitution.