In what can only be described as a tremendous waste of valuable time and resources, the City of Phoenix has finally made good on its threat to eliminate the blight of swingers' clubs on the community.
Phoenix police raided five establishments whose philosophy espouses the swapping of spouses last Friday night, arresting the owners and managers of Club Chameleon, Discretions, Guys and Dolls, and Encounters. It seems they were in violation of a city ordinance prohibiting the occurrence of live sexual acts at places of business.
The ordinance, which passed in 1998, declared sex clubs to be "inimical to the health, safety, general welfare and morals of the inhabitants of the city of Phoenix."
This ordinance was justified, in part, on the basis that these clubs are contributing to the rampant spread of sexually transmitted diseases. While they have no backing for this belief, the concern is at least legitimate. The question of whose morality the ordinance was referring to is somewhat suspect, however, given that the law was drafted with the aid of the right-wing National Family Legal Foundation.
What this boils down to is the prosecution of victimless crimes.
The argument that so-called adult social clubs are harmful to the general well being of society would only hold water if the public as a whole were forced to take part in or witness the activities in question. Clearly, since attendance at these clubs is voluntary, that is not the case, and classifying what goes on there as "in view of the public" is something of a stretch. After all, it's not as though anyone was having sex in the middle of a crowded sidewalk.
Furthermore, clubs that cater to individuals who have a propensity for promiscuity (and enjoy an audience) are hardly trying to attract attention to themselves. They are not located near schools and they don't line Mill Avenue in Tempe or Stetson Drive in Scottsdale. On the contrary, most are off the beaten path, housed inside plain buildings with little or no advertising.
Since the owners and patrons of Phoenix swing clubs seem to be minding their own business, it begs the question of why the city doesn't follow their example. It also makes one wonder if enforcing the law is even constitutional.
U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver decided it was when she ruled against club owners suing the City of Phoenix in 1999. Judge Silver seems to have missed the boat on this one.
Before this First Amendment-robbing ordinance took effect, no city in the country had attempted to enact an outright ban of swingers' clubs. Unfortunately, now that the Phoenix ordinance has been upheld in court, other cities are following suit and creating a dangerous trend in legislating morality.
Since we have already established that no one is being harmed by the existence of these clubs, the only logical conclusion to arrive at is that Phoenix has grossly overstepped its bounds. Prohibiting exhibitionism inside an establishment of like-minded people is tantamount to legislating people's sex lives. And that is a crime against morality.
For the same reason so many archaic laws against sodomy and homosexuality have been repealed, so should this one. Being offended by actions affecting nobody but those taking part in them is not reason enough to make those actions illegal. City officials and police would do well to follow a simple credo that people have a right to be left alone. In other words: whatever floats your boat.
Scott Phillips is a journalism junior. Reach him at robert.phillips2@asu.edu.
