Boring New York Court Decides Strippers Are Not as Artistic as Ballerinas
The New York State court of appeals isn't known for having the coolest judges in all the judicial land, but they just furthered their lame rep to new lows. In a 4-3 vote, the high-ranking court ruled that strip clubs do in fact have to pay their state sales taxes.
The suit was brought against the owners of Nite Moves, a Latham, New York, "juice bar" that features girls dancing on tables. The creative entrepreneurs said that tax exemptions applied to them because of their employees "dramatic or musical arts performances," the same exemptions given to ballerinas.
But the prudish court decided that no matter how hard Foxxy and Ruby tried, they just weren't buying the whole dancer act.
However, one of the dissenting judges, Robert Smith, is the new coolest rebel in the court room. Judge Smith wrote the dissenting opinion for the 3 pro-stipper judges on the court. In his written remarks, he made sure to stress that he was "stuffy" (not stiffy) and clarified that he found stripping to be "unedifying" and "distasteful."
But Cool-Robes-McCool-Judge also took major issue with the court's decision, playfully adding, "Perhaps for similar reasons, I do not read Hustler magazine; I would rather read the New Yorker. I would be appalled, however, if the state were to exact from Hustler a tax that the New Yorker did not have to pay, on the ground that what appears in Hustler is insufficiently 'cultural and artistic.'"
Right on Judge Smith. Keep up this cool business and New Yorker dissing and you're going to be the court's next prom king.