TACOMA — A federal judge in Tacoma has blocked Pierce County from releasing the business licenses and real names of strippers under a public records request.
U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton issued a preliminary injunction Thursday saying that if the information was released, it could be used to harass or threaten dancers or strip club managers.
An Auburn man named David A. Van Vleet had filed a public records request seeking adult entertainment licenses on file for the only strip club in unincorporated Pierce County, Dreamgirls at Fox’s.
A lawyer for the club and the dancers, Gilbert H. Levy, acknowledged that the information can be released under the state Public Records Act, but he says the entertainers have free-speech, privacy and safety interests in keeping the licenses and their true identities confidential.
