Hustler Club magazine covers must come down, New Orleans City Council rules

Art, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder. According to an attorney for Larry Flynt's Hustler Club, that definition includes the sexually provocative covers of Hustler magazine that line its front windows in the 200 block of Bourbon Street.

The New Orleans City Council didn't weigh in as art critics Thursday (July 14) when asked to decide whether the covers should come down, but their decision supporting removal could possibly lead to a lawsuit from the business.

The Vieux Carré Commission, which regulates preservation in the French Quarter, cited the Hustler Club in April for violating the prohibition against excessive signage and ordered them to remove all 48 magazine covers from its façade fenestration. The club appealed the citation to the VCC and lost. On Thursday, the club's attorney brought the matter before the New Orleans City Council, arguing the magazine covers are art and therefore constitutionally protected as free speech.

Attorney Michelle Cumberland told council members the covers shouldn't be considered signs because they do not advertise a product. "The Hustler Club does not sell these women," she said.

Read more: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/07/hustler_covers_in_bourbon_stre.html