JURIST - Paper Chase: States brief ~ OR Supreme Court rules law banning live sex shows unconstitutional

[JURIST] Leading Thursday's states brief, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled in separate decisions today that a state law [decision text] banning live sex shows and a local ordinance [decision text] that requires nude dancers to stay four feet away from customers both violate the state constitution [text] guarantee of free expression. The majority opinion in the first case stated that freedom of expression extends "to the kinds of expression that a majority of citizens in many communities would not like," but lone dissenter Justice Paul De Muniz found live public sex shows were not intended to be protected by the drafters of the constitution. Both rulings overturned decisions of the Oregon Court of Appeals. AP has more.

In other state legal news ...

The Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments [transcript] Thursday on whether a 1997 state law requiring doctors to inform women seeking an abortion of the procedure's risks is unconstitutionally vague and violates privacy rights. A lawyer for the Presidential Women's Center of West Palm Beach argued that the law [text] violates the right to privacy because it interferes with the doctor-patient relationship and fails to clearly state "what non-medical risks are to be disclosed." Florida Chief Deputy Solicitor General Louis Hubener said, "The woman needs to know what the consequences to her health might be." Two lower courts have decided in favor of abortion providers and the law has yet to take effect because of this constitutional challenge. View the case summary and briefs here. AP has more.
A Florida appeals court has affirmed [PDF text] a decision to grant class-action status for a lawsuit which alleges Pinellas County School District [school website] has failed to narrow the achievement gap between white and black students and in doing so has violated the state constitution's equal protection clause. The school district argues that while working hard to narrow the gap, factors beyond its control such as high poverty among black families are hindering the effort. The class will include 20,000 current students and future black students. AP has more.

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