Strip-club compromise OK'd

COLUMBUS (AP) -- Rules forbidding touching of strippers and requiring them to keep on some clothes when dancing past midnight were approved Tuesday by a House committee as a compromise on a statewide crackdown on adult businesses.
The no-touching rule for customers and the seminude dancing provision are part of a new version of legislation that was brought to lawmakers through petitions circulated by Citizens for Community Values, a Cincinnati-based Christian group.
The group, which also backed Ohio's gay marriage ban, agreed to the changes to its proposal that originally had sought a 6-foot clearance between dancers and patrons and a ban on stripping after midnight.
The ban on touching dancers still will accomplish the goal of people who signed the petitions, said David Miller, vice president of public policy for Citizens for Community Values.
"If it becomes law, we'll have a significant impact on the crime in this state that takes place in many of these establishments," he said. The Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee voted 8-7 to pass the compromise, first reported by The Plain Dealer.
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