ST. LOUIS - A bar has appealed a 70-day suspension of its liquor license for a "Girls Gone Wild" party that got out of control. The suspension would force The Vault Restaurant & Cabaret out of business, says its attorney Patrick Mehan, who claims the suspension is unconstitutional because Excise Commissioner Robert Kraiberg acts as both prosecutor and judge on the administrative level, violating his client's due process. Kraiberg ordered the suspension in December 2005 in response to a taping of "Girls Gone Wild," in which women expose themselves before a camera. Mehan appealed to the St. Louis City Circuit Court. The hearing is set for Feb. 15. The 20-minute tape was produced in September 2005. It features several women. At one point a man on stage ordered one woman to take off another woman's clothes, put whip cream on her nipples and genitals and lick them off. The woman did it in full view of employees and patrons. The tape ended with the participants stating their names, age and giving "Girls Gone Wild" permission to use the footage. Kraiberg claims the event violates St. Louis' law on lewd or indecent conduct. The ordinance defines lewd and indecent conduct as the exposure of one's genitals, buttocks, vulva, pubic hair or the female breast below the top of the areola and the touching, caressing or fondling of the breast, buttocks or genitals whether clothed or exposed for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification. Kraiberg said Internet advertising, flyers and complaints to police brought the event to city officials' attention. "I don't have any moral concerns about it; it's simply against the law," Kraiberg said. "The Board of Aldermen didn't tell me to enforce what I like or didn't like. They told me to enforce the law." But Mehan said the patrons who performed the illegal acts on their own initiative were encouraged by the "Girls Gone Wild" entity, making the bar owner the least culpable party. This was the Vault's first violation of the city's liquor license. Mehan says a 70-day suspension, which would force The Vault to close its doors permanently, is excessive. "Of course we're hoping that the suspension will be lifted entirely, but whatever the court feels is proper is fine," Mehan said. "We hope that it isn't a full 70 days if they choose a suspension."