Buehrle v. City of Key West (11th Cir. 2015) said a city couldn’t ban new
tattoo parlors in its historic district without running afoul of the First
Amendment.
City of Boerne v. Flores (1997) said Congress does not have unlimited power
to expand First Amendment rights and overturned the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act of 1993.
City of Los Angeles v. Alameda Books (2002) ruled that cities could rely on
studies showing the crime impact of adult businesses to zone them without
violating the First Amendment.
City of Renton v. Playtime Theaters (1986) said that zoning laws aimed at
undesirable secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses may not
violate the First Amendment.
Schad v. Mount Ephraim (1981) ruled that a city’s zoning laws must conform
to the First Amendment and struck down a regulation that banned all live
performances.
In 1976, the Supreme Court introduced the secondary effects doctrine in
upholding zoning of adult businesses in Detroit. In Young v. American Mini
Theaters, the Court found that the laws were aimed at limiting crime and
low property values, and were not aimed at limiting speech.
