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Three Dallas strip clubs are asking a federal judge to block the city from shutting them down at 2 a.m. if the businesses stop featuring sex work during that time and mainly operate as restaurants instead. The city disagrees.
The owners of XTC Cabaret, Silver City and Tiger Cabaret are suing Dallas, claiming they’re being illegally threatened with sanctions by police after a city-approved ban of sexually oriented businesses operating between 2 and 6 a.m. went into effect Nov. 30.
XTC Cabaret and Silver City say they hold city-issued permits they believe should allow them to remain open in the early morning if they aren’t operating as strip clubs. Tiger Cabaret alleges some of its employees were wrongfully arrested when workers and customers moved to a nearby nightclub after the strip club closed after 2 a.m., days after the ban went into effect.
“The (businesses) are forced to decide whether to continue operating for a lawful purpose and risk defendants wrongful pursuit of criminal charges or close its businesses before 2 a.m. and consequently, lose profits, hinder goodwill or business reputation, and suffer loss-of-use damages,” said the lawsuit, which was filed Friday.
But Dallas police say there is no exemption from the operating hours ban, which was approved by the Dallas City Council in January 2022, then blocked from city enforcement in May 2022 by a federal judge. That decision then was overturned by an appeals court in October.
In an email to a lawyer representing XTC Cabaret on the day before the ban went into effect, Dallas police Maj. Devon Palk said all sexually oriented businesses have to comply with the operating ban.
“The operation of a restaurant is a separate main use,” Palk wrote in the Nov. 29 email, according to court records. “Operation of a restaurant at the XTC site would require a new or separate certificate of occupancy.”
Palk also said it would likely still be banned from operating between 2 and 6 a.m. even with a new certificate of occupancy because the business is a sexually oriented business licensee.
Palk’s email was in response to a Nov. 27 letter from attorney Casey Wallace, who represents XTC Cabaret. The lawyer wrote to Palk and Dallas police Chief Eddie García about the business’ plans to stop featuring erotic dances after 2 a.m. and instead mainly sell food and nonalcoholic drinks to customers who decide to stick around until they close.
“It will offer the same menu items and drink selections that it does before 2 a.m., but there will be no adult cabaret entertainment,” Wallace wrote, according to court documents. The attorney also said there were plans to have occasional “artistic shows” that would not feature dancing, nudity or sexually explicit content.
The businesses in the lawsuit allege civil rights violations by the city, including infringing on the First Amendment. They are seeking a temporary and permanent injunction from a federal judge to stop police from arresting any of their employees for working between 2 and 6 a.m., ban officers from being within 400 meters of the businesses for longer than 30 minutes unless they have probable cause to investigate a crime and forbid the city from shutting down their businesses unless the strip clubs are featuring nude entertainment or other facets of a sexually oriented business after 2 a.m.
“Absent an injunction, plaintiffs will suffer irreparable injury,” the lawsuit said. “Businesses have a right to transact lawful business.”
The ordinance was approved in 2022 amid police and city officials arguing it would help curb violence that occurs mainly at or near strip clubs. The rules mandate all city sexually oriented businesses such as strip clubs, adult book stores and video stores stay closed between 2 and 6 a.m. There were previously no restrictions.
Businesses in violation could lose their sexually oriented business licenses. Violators could also face criminal charges with a penalty of up to a year in jail or a fine of up to $4,000.