Athens, Georgia- Athens met with an annual tradition Tuesday, as attorneys for one of the city’s strip clubs filed suit against the government, asking that the Clarke County Superior Court issue an injunction that will keep the bar in business into the new year.
Athens-Clarke County and its two local strip clubs have been in court for one reason or another for years, as the government tries to enforce a long-standing law that prohibits nude dancing and alcohol sales in the same establishment.

But, even as attorneys for Toppers International Showbar filed suit Tuesday – complaining that county employees wouldn’t accept the bar’s application to renew an alcohol license – attorneys for the local government have asked the Georgia Supreme Court to sanction the strip clubs for filing a frivolous lawsuit.

County officials maintain that the strip clubs don’t have licenses to sell alcohol; they can’t renew their 2003 licenses, because they don’t have them. Attorneys for Toppers insist that a court-ordered license issued early this year is still in effect. Though a Superior Court judge disagreed with them, attorneys for Toppers have appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court and argue that the appeal means authorities can’t punish the businesses for selling alcohol.

Earlier this month, County Attorney Bill Berryman asked the Supreme Court to sanction the bar and its attorneys – an unusual request for a government, but one that could end the years of wrangling. The strip clubs have sued only to delay the process and the most recent appeal wasn’t filed in the proper way, Berryman argued.

He wrote the strip club’s attorneys in November, warning them that the appeal didn’t prohibit the county from enforcing laws against selling alcohol without a license. Athens-Clarke County police officers followed up with two undercover investigations at each bar. Officers wearing surveillance cameras and microphones visited the bars, according to police reports, paid cover charges, bought drinks and watched dancers disrobe.

Although officials say the bars are selling alcohol without a license, they have not attempted to prosecute the owners or employees.

”I think it would be difficult to take any actions criminally until the Supreme Court has acted,” said Athens-Clarke Solicitor General Ralph Powell, the prosecutor who would handle any charges filed for selling alcohol without a license.

”If we go against them criminally, that’s just another thing to appeal,” he said. ”I feel like we are just swimming upstream (with the battle to enforce county laws against alcohol and nudity). But it seems like we are getting close to a decision.”

The government can’t punish the businesses for selling alcohol while Toppers and Chelsea’s have appealed the lower court decision, said Toppers attorney Jeff Rothman.

”They are not breaking the law,” Rothman said, pointing out that officials have not prosecuted the owners of the bars. ”Why would the county knowingly allow a crime to occur unless they thought we were right? If the county tries to close us down, and the Supreme Court later says we are right, the county best get out its checkbook.”