Dec 12, 2007 4:19 pm US/Central
Swingers Club Sues The City Of Duncanville
DUNCANVILLE (CBS 11 News/ AP) ―
Jim Trulock's home transforms into a swingers club known as "The Cherry Pit" on weekends.
Last month Duncanville, by a unanimous council vote, passed an ordinance banning sex clubs, calling it a response to neighbor complaints about the traffic and noise The Cherry Pit attracts each weekend.
But attorneys for The Cherry Pit and its regulars call the ban a veiled attempt to police their lifestyle.
Wednesday, Trulock's attorney filed a law suit against the city.
The lawsuit accuses the city of having no "constitutionally acceptable" grounds to enact the ordinance. The suit also alleges the ordinance to be so vague that a husband wanting to have sex with his wife could face prosecution.
Attorneys for The Cherry Pit said their case, in part, is backed by the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas, which upheld sexual privacy protections in striking down sodomy as a crime in the state.
"It's the backbone for what we're going to be doing," attorney Ed Klein said.
The swingers club also suffered a set back Wednesday.
Dallas County Judge King Fifer on Wednesday denied Trulock's request for a temporary restraining order to prohibit the city from enforcing the ordinance. The city has already cited Trulock for violations that carry a maximum fine of $2,000 each.
"We will continue to enforce the ordinances," city spokeswoman Tonya Lewis said.
Duncanville City Attorney Robert Hager said the city would respond specifically to the lawsuit in court.
Duncanville, which proclaims itself "The Perfect Blend of Family, Community and Business," is an unlikely venue for a neighborhood swinger club. The city of 36,000 just southwest of Dallas has about 50 places of worship and not a single registered sexually oriented business.
Other cities have wrestled with the same issue.
Phoenix, for example, prohibited live sexual performances in 1998, effectively outlawing swinger parties. An appeals court upheld the law in 2003, and Duncanville used it as a blueprint when passing a ban last month.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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