Exotic Dancers’ Lawsuit Against the San Diego Police Department Continues

A lawsuit filed by 24 exotic dancers against the San Diego police is going to be able to move forward, per a federal judge’s ruling on Thursday. The exotic dancers, who worked for two strip clubs, claim that the police officers violated their constitutional rights when they raided the clubs by holding the dancers against their will and taking photographs of them.

The two strip clubs in question were called Expose and Cheetahs, and were raided by San Diego police in July of 2013 and March of 2014. The exotic dancers claim that in both situations the officers came into the clubs, ordered the exotic dancers into one particular room, and then checked their permits and interrogated the dancers. However the exotic dancers claim that the officers went a step further when they “made arrogant and demeaning comments to the entertainers and ordered them to expose body parts so that they could ostensibly photograph their tattoos.” The exotic dancers also argued that when they asked to leave, the police officers threatened them with arrest. According to the lawyers for the exotic dancers, their Fourth Amendment rights were violated.

According to Kristina Davis of the Los Angeles Times, the judge, U.S. District Judge M. James Lorenz, wrote:

Submitting photographs and providing identification during reasonable inspections, to avoid losing a permit, is qualitatively different than stripping down to undergarments, huddling in a dressing room for up to an hour, and submitting to a photo shoot that involved the exposure of intimate body parts, to avoid arrest.

This lawsuit has been ongoing for a while, and one of the strip clubs in question has been the site of political controversy in the past. According to Tony Perry of the Los Angeles Times:

In 2003, three City Council members were indicted on charges of taking campaign contributions from the then-owner in exchange for promising to convince the council to lift the no-touching and no-fondling rules.

In an environment where police distrust is at a high, and questions about correct procedure abound, it will be interesting to see whether the dancers will prevail in their suit against the city.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.