Illegal Raids Costing City

The city is forking out big money for illegal business closings, but not nearly as much as it could be. Deputy City Attorney Pieter Teuwissen told City Council Monday afternoon that the city had managed to talk down damages regarding the 2006 illegal closing of a nude entertainment club to about $125,000.

“They originally asked for almost $300,000, about $280,000. They brought in an accountant, and after we cross-examined him, we talked them down,” Teuwissen told the Jackson Free Press.

Jackson Mayor Frank Melton went on moralistic raids in 2005 and 2006, casing and closing down nude clubs and risquÄ bookstores that he deemed in violation of city codes. The city also began withholding license renewals for club owners.

Some stores, like Terry Road Novelty Books, remain closed. Others, like McDowell Road Adult Video Store, fought the shutdown, but still suffer the occasional raid, with police cleaning out the sex toysčthe sale of which is banned by state law.

Melton always defended his raids with accusations that never made it to court, such as his 2006 claim to have witnessed a sex act in the back of the Terry Road Bookstore. Police never confirmed the claim. Melton attempted to make similar allegations regarding the McDowell Road bookstore, although store owner Charles Hobby warned Melton that he had video footage of the entire raid, which showed no such activity.

In January 2006, Melton closed Centerfolds, claiming he witnessed full nudity and other city code violations, and police arrested the owner. City officials then denied the business a license application. Then the mayor went on to close down Girls of Paradise, and later Babes Showclub, saying Babes never got its 2006 city operating license.

The city denied the business’ request for a temporary license, though Babes attorney Chris Ganner argued that a temporary license was the only kind of license they could get at the time because the city hadčeither on purpose or through rank incompetencečmisdirected the company’s application efforts. Babes general manager Bo Powell argued that his club had applied for its 2006 license in October 2005 and testified in U.S. District Court that an employee filed an application with the city’s Sign and License Division because no one was available in JPD to take the application.

Complicating the city’s argument, two city employees in the Sign and License Division testified that they’d actually accepted a $200 license renewal fee and stamped the document as a receipt. City employee Yolanda Shaw said she told JPD that Babes had made the payment, although JPD license and permit officer Samuel Gardner claimed he had no record of the application. Gardner said he’d warned Powell about their unregistered license, but Powell countered he had no hint of the problem until police showed up to put a lock on his club and send home the employees.

U.S. District Court Judge Henry T. Wingate ruled that April that the city should not expect Babes to comply with the process when the city had failed to follow that process as well.

The case has been in a settlement phase since 2006, with business attorneys trying to calculate damages.

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The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.