Nude Club Fee Case Moving To New Judge

AUSTIN (AP) – A court hearing on Texas’ new $5 strip club fee was halted abruptly today when the presiding judge said she may have been present during discussions of the surcharge.

Judge Lora Livingston wasted no time telling lawyers she may have a conflict and said the case should be moved to another judge.

Livingston said she has past involvement with the Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation. The group helps to provide free legal services to the poor and is to receive money from the state fee.

The judge said she may have been present while some in the foundation discussed it with legislators. But said she did not directly lobby any lawmaker about the fee before it was passed last year.

The fee is projected to raise some $44 million for sexual assault prevention programs and health care for the uninsured. The state’s attorneys in the lawsuit have tried to suggest there is a link between sexually oriented businesses and sexual assaults.

The Texas Entertainment Association and Amarillo strip club owners Karpod, Inc., brought the case to state district court.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)