Schad v. Mount Ephraim

James Schad (defendant "Schad") opened an adult bookstore in the Borough of Mount Ephraim (plaintiff "Ephraim") in New York in 1973.

3 years later, Schad installed devices in his store allowing customers to watch live naked burlesque dancing.

In the 1970s, town of Ephraim didn't permit live entertainment in a commercial zone.

Ephraim filed legal complaints against Schad for violation of the zoning ordinance.

Schad replied that Ephraim's ordinance prohibiting all live entertainment is over-broad and infringes on his right to freedom of expression under the 1st Amendment.

Schad loses in municipal court & is fined.

Schad loses at all courts of New Jersey. New Jersey Supreme Court denied review of the case.

Is a New Jersey town's ordinance prohibiting all live entertainment impermissibly over-broad?

SCOTUS negates all New Jersey courts by holding that the Ephraim ordinance was over-broad by banning protected expressions of speech without sufficient justification.

The Supreme Court ruled 7-2.

SCOTUS stated that Ephraim's exclusion of live entertainment to avoid harmful effect such as trash & parking is not supported by evidence and, thus, rejected.

Under the overbreadth doctrine, a law may be facially challenged because it prohibits protected & unprotected speech.