http://www.chicagotribune.com/

AUSTIN, Texas - A $5-per-customer fee on strip club patrons dubbed the “pole tax” has been declared unconstitutional.

A state district judge ruled that clubs can’t collect the fee. The charge went into effect in January and was expected to raise about $44 million for sexual assault prevention programs and health care for the uninsured.

Judge Scott Jenkins wrote in the March 28 decision that the fee, “while furthering laudable goals, violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and is therefore invalid.”

I originally intended to post this as a follow-up, but discovered the original, related stories never made it to the blog. I’ve listed them below for reference:

http://origin.foxnews.com/

…the Lone Star State will require its 150 or so strip clubs to collect a $5-per-customer levy, with most of the proceeds going to help rape victims.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/

“This is an industry that largely employs women, and this gives them an opportunity to raise funds for a crime that affects women,” said state Rep. Ellen Cohen, a Houston Democrat who sponsored the legislation. “I’ve been told the fees to get into these places can be $10, $15. I don’t think another $5 is going to prevent someone from going.”

Um, maybe that’s your problem, Ms. Cohen, you don’t think.

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