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Cheetah's Strip Club drops lawsuit over permit

The company that owns the Kearny Mesa strip club Cheetah’s on Friday announced it had dropped a lawsuit against the city of San Diego.

SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) – The company that owns the Kearny Mesa strip club Cheetah’s on Friday announced it had dropped a lawsuit against the city of San Diego.

The lawsuit was filed in Federal Court in 2014, by the parent company of Cheetah’s. It accused the San Diego Police Department of unfairly revoking its adult entertainment license after police had documented violations during visits to the club such as performers getting too close to patrons.

In that suit, the ownership of Cheetah’s had argued the municipal code regulating adult businesses was unconstitutional, while the city countered the plaintiff’s decision to drop that lawsuit on behalf of the business itself heralded by the city as victory.

San Diego’s Police Chief said, “This confirms our officers conducted legal, proper and justified inspections.”

The attorney for the club and its performers had a different take: “The city crowing over nothing. […] We are streamlining our legal efforts to force the city of San Diego into compliance with the U.S. Constitution.”

A spokesman for the San Diego City Attorney said, “This amounts to a total surrender by the Cheetah’s legal team and a vindication of the SDPD’s efforts to protect the public by making Cheetah’s ownership comply with the law.”

Marlea Dell’Anno, co-counsel on the lawsuit, said a related lawsuit on behalf of several of the club’s performers is going forward.

That civil rights suit filed in federal court stems from one of the police department’s surprise inspections of the club.

“They [performers] were forced to remove their clothing – a blatant violation of their civil rights,” said Dell’Anno.

The police department has said their officers did everything by the book, but Dell’Anno said she believes her will prevail.

“They [the performers] deserve justice and they are going to get it,” she said.

The lawsuit on behalf of the performers is expected to head trial in federal court sometime next year. As for the lawsuit that was dropped concerning the club’s permit, the city said it will seek full recovery of its costs stemming from the litigation.

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