“Everyone expects a cab driver, a doctor and even a barber to be required to have a license. But the clerk behind the counter of the local porn shop? It’s true in Bradenton, where employees at adult bookstores and sex boutiques must now carry county-issued licenses while on the job. County officials say the move gives them more control over the businesses, ensuring employees haven’t been recently convicted of prostitution or drug offenses. But critics say the licensing requirement relies on unfair stereotypes about sexually oriented businesses, intrudes on employees’ privacy and could hinder the recruitment of employees… The licenses, which include a photo, address, date of birth and expiration date, require a background check for prostitution, drug or lewd and lascivious offenses within the past five years and an initial fee of $50 per person. They’re good for one year and can be renewed for $25. Businesses are also required to obtain licenses, which cost $100 a year and require proof that the businesses meet ordinance requirements regulating lighting, floor layout and hours of operation.” —Herald Tribune (US)

This is a pretty nasty ordinance to inflict on adult businesses. In the first place, it’s hard to see why clerks at adult businesses should be required to have “cleaner” backgrounds than clerks at convenience stores. What does it matter if a clerk had a former conviction for prostitution or drugs? Maybe he’s using his job as a clerk in an adult store as the first step toward more legitimate forms of employment. After all, who hires ex-cons anyway? If an adult business is willing to give somebody a regular job — and that’s all it is, a regular job — then why should the county penalize that person?

The story mentions other jobs that require licenses, but take a close look at them. Doctors have to be regulated for obvious reasons. Barbers also need licenses: their job is to hold sharp instruments near your head, so obviously you want people willing to meet minimum standards of cleanliness and sanity. Cab drivers are regulated for similar reasons. They need sound driving skills or they present a public danger. In other words, cab drivers, doctors, and barbers are all licensed for the sake of public health. But porn-store clerks? Does it take any special skill to handle petty cash or to mop cum from the floor of a “video preview booth?” Maybe you could make the argument that the latter also presents a public health risk. But then again, any adult business owner wants his video booths to be clean, otherwise people won’t use them.

For that matter, most adult business owners would probably frown on any prostitution or drug traffic taking place in their stores. It’s bad for business. Have you ever seen a hooker or drug dealer working the register of a porn emporium? It can’t be too common. No wonder a federal court struck down this county’s previous attempt at restricting adult businesses, charging that the county “didn’t supply evidence that adult businesses lead to an increase in crime.” Several businesses are appealing this new ordinance, and it’s easy to think they have substantial grounds for doing so.

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