Constitutional Law

Borderless Bookstore

In West Chester, Pennsylvania, the "St. Agnes Church has dropped its challenge to a zoning hearing board decision involving Feminique Boutique, a sex novelty shop near the church," reports the DailyLocal.com here. Why? Well, we can only guess, but there is no definition for what the store is (i.e., an adult novelty store) in the borough's code; so there was no restriction on the store's locating where it did. The store sells "lingerie and body oils as well as racier items in a back room."

According to the article, the store's owner, Jill McDevitt, "has a bachelor?s degree in sexuality, marriage and family," and "originally wanted to be a high school English teacher" before founding her boutique. (While pursuing a psychology degree at East Stroudsburg University, she wrote a sex column in the student paper. It sounds like she's an educator, a savvy marketer, and, unlike the church -- at least initially -- a reader of the law.) Anyway, when the uproar began, hundreds signed a petition at the boutique supporting the store's plight.

It worked. Then again, Ms. McDevitt's store is no BadaBing.

Full post as published by Meeting the Sin Laws on June 08, 2008 (boomark / email).