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“It won’t take but one child or one female to be abducted, raped or killed, and our investigation link this business to that offense, to know that we made a mistake allowing them in our community.” - Sheriff Ronnie Strength
between sexually explicit (material), pornography and obscenity, but it makes all the difference as far as the United States Constitution and the constitution of the state of Georgia.” Maddox told the audience his clients are not going to be selling anything that is illegal. “It is not illegal in the state of Georgia to sell videos and books which display nudity and sexual content,” Maddox said. “But we have a society that has gotten away with using the word pornographic for anything that involves nudity and sexuality. That’s not what pornography means.” He told the commission that if they follow Craig’s advice, they will be going against their own ordinance. “Mr. Craig is clearly asking the commission to use their discretion to say as a body, ‘We don’t want any bookstores like this proposed bookstore in our county,’” Maddox said. “Commissioners, mayor, that decision has already been made.” Maddox said that in March of 1997 the commission passed an adult entertainment ordinance that specifically states that an adult bookstore is a protected form of speech. “That’s not the Constitution talking; that is this body,” Maddox said. “And your ordinance states that the regulation of a business can’t become so great that it is actually prohibition. “Of course, that’s actually what the sheriff and the district attorney are asking you to do.” Also included in Augusta’s zoning ordinance, Maddox said, was the ability to establish an adult bookstore in a neighborhoodbusiness district or light industrial area. Maddox said the location that his clients chose, in a heavy industrial area, is much less intrusive on the community than what the local ordinance allows. And while the sheriff may not be afraid of lawsuit, Maddox told the commission, if this petition is denied, the sheriff will get his wish. “Commissioners, please understand that while these folks are here and their hearts are in the right place ... you have to make the hard decisions of law,” Maddox said. “And the fact is, my clients have met the requirements that you yourself have set out. “I would encourage you to do the right thing, which may not be the popular thing.” As soon as Maddox was finished, several members of the community and local churches asked to speak to the commission including Mark Harris, pastor of Curtis Baptist Church. Harris came before commissioners last year and convinced them to reject a downtown alcohol license application on Broad Street. The commission’s decision was later taken to court and overturned. Harris told the commission he had interrupted his family’s beach vacation to drive back and make his plea to the board.
“I sat in that chair and listened to the petitioner make his plea of what he was trying to get across. For one fleeting moment I sat there and I thought, if I believe this man, why am I here?” Harris asked. “And if I believe what I’ve been told here today already, why are you, the commission, here? “You’ve been told that decision has already been made. But I submit to you gentlemen the decision must not have been or he (Maddox) wouldn’t be here asking you for an exception.” The crowd exploded into cheers again. Bishop L.A. Green, pastor of the Light of the World Evangelistic Outreach Ministry in Aragon Park, agreed with Harris saying that this wasn’t a fight against one adult bookstore. This was a fight against evil. “Just imagine waking up one morning and hearing, this young girl is missing. And the next morning, this young girl is missing,” Green said. “You mean to tell me that we now are going to allow some sick-minded person to come in our community and start looking at our young girls and boys? ... We’ll fight it until the last person is standing.” The commission didn’t need to hear anymore. Cheek reintroduced his motion to deny the petitioner’s request based on the possibility of the establishment increasing crime and hurting economic development in the area. Commissioner Steve Shepard, who is a local attorney, supported Cheek’s motion, saying, “I signed on to this job to bring this community up, not to bring it down.” The mayor, who pointed out he didn’t have a vote in the matter, also encouraged the commission to reject the petition request. “This is not an issue about art. This is not an issue about religion. It’s not an issue about free speech. ... It is an issue of how we define this community,” Young said. “How do we want people to view Augusta, Georgia? “I say, ‘Not here.’ And in Richmond County, Georgia, ‘Not anywhere.’” The commission voted unanimously to deny the petition for an adult bookstore; however, two commissioners warned the public that the city is going to be in for a fight. “I do have mixed emotions about this,” Commissioner Lee Beard said. “Sometimes you have to follow the procedure that is there and we really need to look into this because it’s a difficult process to have a planning commission tell us that these people meet the requirements and then we have to vote to say that they can’t have it.” Commissioner Willie Mays said he wasn’t scared of facing the petitioners in court, but he hoped that the commission’s vote had enough solid legal footing to support their position. “If you are going to fight, don’t send me into battle with a BB gun against a nuclear weapon,” Mays said. “If you are going to fight, then fight for real.”
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