The United States Supreme Court has ruled that Florida is now allowed to enforce a law that would ban drag shows in the state.
The decision deals a major blow to a key initiative that is championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. The development comes after the Sunshine State asked the nation's top court to narrow a lower court's injunction that prevented the law from being enforced statewide.
Florida's Drag Show Ban
In response to the request, the Supreme Court's justices declined to do so. In a statement, conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch said that they would have allowed the law to take effect.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joined in part by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, addressed the First Amendment complexities of the case. The two justices said that the case was an "imperfect vehicle" for deciding some of the questions at the center of the debate.
Additionally, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody argued that the law in question, which is known as the "Protection of Children Act," was designed to "prevent the exposure of children to sexually explicit live performances," as per CNN.
The law also makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly admit a child to a sexually explicit adult live performance that would be considered obscene for the "age of the child present." In June, a Florida district court judge blocked the law, holding that it likely violates the Constitution's free speech and due process protections and argued that it was constitutionally vague.
Furthermore, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined Florida's emergency application for a stay of the district court's injunction, which triggered the state's request to the highest court for relief in the case.
The Supreme Court's Thursday order means that Florida officials are not allowed to enforce the law at all before the legal challenge to it is resolved. While the case itself could come back to the justices, it would likely take months before the lower courts finish their review of the law and any accompanying appeals.
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Supreme Court's Ruling
The law, if it was implemented, would have enforced various penalties on restaurants or other venues that violate the statute. These include license revocation or even criminal charges. Furthermore, while the law does not specify drag shows at all, it is largely seen as being designed for them, according to NPR.
One of the establishments that challenged the law in court is Hamburger Mary's Restaurant and Bar in Orlando. The business contended that the law violates the First Amendment right of free speech. The restaurant is known to frequently hold drag show performances, comedy sketches, and dancing performances.
The question of how broadly injunctions should sweep has been controversial for several years. Lawyers and scholars have questioned whether and when so-called nationwide or universal injunctions are appropriate.
In response to the initial injunction, state officials said they would have had no objections to it if it were limited only to Hamburger Mary's. They also said that the judge in charge of the case should not have blocked the law from being enforced throughout the state, said the New York Times.
