Suppose someone started an adults-only car wash…

November 15, 2015 7:18 PM

In 1991, The Supreme Court heard Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc. (spoilers!) (Number 90-26), in which two strip clubs contented that laws against nude dancing violated their first amendment rights.
The oral argument (as recorded and transcribed at Oyez) is just as titter-inducing and thoughtful as you would expect a hypothetical-filled conversation between lawyers talking about nudity would be; it was later adapted verbatim into the play Arguendo.
posted by Going To Maine (10 comments total)

In the play, Bruce Ennis, attorney for the dancers, eventually becomes nude. Created and directed by John Collins, the play was well received in New York and Washington, D.C

I have to wonder if anyone involved in the case (supreme court interns, lawyers pleading the case) saw this play. Ironically, I think the nudity in the play is intrinsic to the speech in the play.
posted by el io at 9:27 PM on November 15, 2015

This is an excellent post and I will listen to these oral arguments on my way to work today.
posted by anotherpanacea at 4:44 AM on November 16, 2015

I was going to be all "all car washes are adult-only because only adults are legally allowed to drive cars!" but then I remembered that you let children drive in the US. Brrr.
posted by Dysk at 5:43 AM on November 16, 2015

In the US, we also allow children to ride in cars, but I don't see why that should be an impediment either.
posted by I-Write-Essays at 6:43 AM on November 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

"I was going to be all "all car washes are adult-only because only adults are legally allowed to drive cars!" but then I remembered that you let children drive in the US. Brrr."

I'm confused. The minimum age for a full license in most of the states in the US varies between 16.5 years old and 18 years old. How are those considered to be "children"? I mean, in most of the world the minimum driving age is 17 or 18 so I don't understand the comment.
posted by I-baLL at 9:15 AM on November 16, 2015

People legally considered minors cannot hold a driving licence in most of the world. So yes, in at least one sense anyone under the age of 18 is a child, in that they are not an adult.
posted by Dysk at 9:21 AM on November 16, 2015

I saw this play, and it was awesome. A friend of mine saw it the next night, and Sonya Sotomayor sat in the seat right front of her, and reportedly laughed the whole time. I was so, so jealous.
posted by OrangeDisk at 2:32 PM on November 16, 2015 [2 favorites]

Is there a way to link to just the transcript as text, not some cutesy pop-up with the audio playing, so I can put it on my electronic reading device? Because that is otherwise the most useless example of transcription I have ever seen.
posted by d. z. wang at 8:53 PM on November 17, 2015

I've copied and pasted to pastebin, d.z.wang:

Barnes v. Glen Theatre Inc. - Oral Argument

Barnes v. Glen Theatre Inc. - Opinion Announcement

(I managed to get to the text via google cache for the Oyez page + "Full Transcript Text" which came up as a pop-up "print this page" thingy that I was then able to copy)
posted by taz at 12:29 AM on November 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

Thank you, taz. That was above and beyond, and I appreciate the effort.

Although given that such extraordinary measures were necessary (a google cache?!), I'm going to stick with "most useless transcription ever."
posted by d. z. wang at 5:32 AM on November 18, 2015