An effort in Ohio to repeal new regulations on sexually oriented businesses failed to get enough signatures to make the ballot. Sex-club owners turned in 640,000 signatures — almost three times the number required to make the ballot — but only about 170,000 were valid.
Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, said a questionable strategy was used to collect signatures.
"This is an incredible turn of events," he told Family News in Focus. "We have learned that even dead people have signed the petitions — and convicted felons have been circulating the petitions."
The club owners will take the matter to court, but Mike Johnson of the Alliance Defense Fund said it's unlikely they will prevail.
"The courts have said consistently over the last few decades that the government can lawfully regulate sexually oriented businesses," he said. But "they never rest. They throw everything at the wall to see if by some chance they could have something stick."
