City of Littleton v. Z. J. Gifts D-4, L. L. C.

2004-06-07

Headline: Court reverses appeals court and upholds Littleton’s adult-business licensing rules, allowing cities to rely on ordinary state court procedures instead of special expedited judicial-decisions for adult bookstore license disputes.

Holding: The Court held that Littleton’s adult-business licensing ordinance is facially consistent with the First Amendment and that ordinary Colorado judicial-review procedures sufficiently protect applicants, reversing the Tenth Circuit.

Real World Impact:

Lets cities use ordinary state court review instead of special expedited judicial decision rules.
Makes it harder for adult businesses to demand ultra-fast court rulings on licensing denials.
License denials can still be challenged case-by-case if local courts cause delay.

Topics: adult businesses, free speech, licensing rules, judicial review, zoning

Summary

Background

Littleton, Colorado adopted an "adult business" ordinance requiring adult bookstores, novelty shops, and video stores to get city licenses and to meet zoning and objective eligibility rules. A company that opened an adult bookstore in a nonzoned location sued the city, arguing the ordinance was unconstitutional on its face because state law did not guarantee a quick judicial decision if a license were denied. The District Court rejected the challenge, but the Tenth Circuit agreed that Colorado law did not assure the prompt final judicial decision the First Amendment requires.

Reasoning

The Supreme Court reversed. It explained that earlier cases require protections against undue delay but do not always demand the same emergency 2–3 day judicial-decision model used for film censorship. Because Littleton’s ordinance uses objective, noncontent-based criteria and state courts have ordinary tools to accelerate cases, the Court concluded Colorado’s usual judicial-review procedures can adequately prevent unconstitutional delay in most cases. The Court read the prior decisions to allow ordinary state procedures to suffice in typical adult-business licensing schemes and left room for courts to act quickly when special circumstances threaten speech.

Real world impact

The ruling means cities that use neutral licensing criteria and rely on state court procedures will usually survive a facial First Amendment challenge. Adult-business owners cannot claim an automatic right to special fast-track judicial decisions under Freedman in every case, though individuals may still seek expedited relief when a particular delay would threaten speech.

Dissents or concurrances

Several Justices agreed with the result but emphasized different points: some warned that ordinary procedures must actually produce prompt outcomes in practice; one Justice argued the businesses involved may not be protected by the First Amendment at all.