Furfaro v. City of Seattle

The First Amendment protects nonobscene nude dance performances in an adult nightclub. Before making arrests for violations of a standards of conduct ordinance that prohibits stage dancers from sexual self-touching during a performance, a municipality must obtain a judicial determination of probable cause in which the court is able to focus searchingly on the question of obscenity. Without a warrant, such arrests operate as a prior restraint and a form of unconstitutional censorship. The appellants’ federal civil rights damage claim is reinstated and allowed to proceed on the theory that…