Swingers club owner files civil-rights suit

Jace Radke

Wednesday, July 21, 2004 | 11:11 a.m.

The owner of a Las Vegas swingers club has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Clark County after the club was cited for operating an adult theater without a license.

According to the suit, the Green Door was visited by an agent of the Clark County Department of Business licensing, who cited the establishment after discovering that adult material and pornographic Web sites could be accessed through private internet booths at the club.

The suit asks that a judge find that the citations violate the club's First Amendment free speech rights, and to issue an injunction to prevent the enforcement of vague county code that would classify the Green Door as an adult theater because it offers Internet access.

"To the best of plaintiffs' knowledge and belief, no other establishment has been considered to be an adult theater... for providing nothing more than Internet access to the World Wide Web," the suit states.

The suit, filed Tuesday by Joseph Cavaretta, president of Make U Sweat Inc., the parent company of the Green Door, also names the county's business licensing department, the department's director Janet Holloway and the Nevada Department of Business License as defendants.

Customers can use the Internet booths by paying a per-minute fee at the club in the Commercial Center strip mall at 953 E. Sahara Ave. The initial Internet screen that a customer sees contains links to e-mail and eight other Web sites. Those sites include CNN news, Google, ESPN, the weather channel, MSNBC, a site with X-rated photographs and a site featuring adult videos, the suit states.

The county cited Cavaretta twice, on Feb. 13 and Feb. 27, for operating an adult theater outside the area designated for such businesses and for operating without a license.