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"City owes $85,000 for pulling strip club's licence," reports TheSpec.com. According to the article, "[t]he city's licensing committee pulled the defunct strip club's licence in July 2006 because of inactivity. The decision, which was upheld by council, quashed plans to reopen the strip joint. At the time, the move was celebrated by councillors as a 'breakthrough' because it dropped the number of adult entertainment licences to two, down from eight a decade ago."

To the (Canadian) City's credit, it has recognized the constitutional violation and accepted responsibility:

"We didn't give her due process," said Tim McCabe, general manager of planning
and economic development. "You've got to be fair."

He said the employees who made the mistake no longer work for the city, as they were let go in the overhaul of the beleaguered licensing department. The city has new protocols to ensure the same mistake doesn't happen again, he added.

Councillor Sam Merulla, who chaired the licensing committee when the licence was revoked, said the only good news in the court decision is that the old staff are gone. The bad news is city taxpayers are still paying for their mistakes.

The court awarded Owen $85,000 in damages.

In the U.S., a city would spend another $85K appealing the decision sideways.

Full post as published by Meeting the Sin Laws on August 07, 2008 (boomark / email).