Sammy's v. City of Mobile

In a prior decision for Sammy's v. City of Mobile, an Alabama court had ruled in the city's favor. It upheld an ordinance passed by Mobile's lawmaking body that prohibited establishments that served alcohol from offering topless or nude entertainment. The bars in Mobile that featured such activity then gave up their liquor licenses with the enactment of the ordinance. But a handful of clubs sued the city, led by a venue called "Sammy's," claiming the ordinance was unconstitutional. The decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama was appealed to the Court of Appeals of the Eleventh Circuit. Part of the arguments in the trial hinged upon whether nude dancing was a form of "expressive conduct," and as such would be protected under the free speech clause of the First Amendment.