If a ballet at a Manhattan theater qualifies for a tax break that New York gives to musical and artistic performances, should a routine at a strip club get the discount, too? The New York Court of Appeals has said no, but a group of First Amendment supporters is arguing that a tax that discriminates based on content is unconstitutional in the first place.
In an amicus brief in 677 New Loudon Corp. v. State of New York Tax Appeals Tribunal, five members of the Media Coalition, a First Amendment advocacy group, are challenging the New York high court’s October 2012 decision to decline to extend a sales-tax exemption to Nite Moves, an adult-entertainment venue in Latham, N.Y.
