SALT LAKE CITY – The popular Salt Lake movie theater is claiming a win after a judge rules the state violated their first amendment rights. They plan on showing movies they were warned not to screen in the past.
For Brewvies… to borrow a phrase from Deadpool… it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Brewvies Board Member Norman Chesler says showing Deadpool was a high priority for them since they knew it was a popular draw. “It’s a mainstream movie, playing in 3,500 theaters across the United States. We did not feel there was going to be a problem,” he says.
However, the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control threatened to fine them up to $25 thousand for showing it because of sexual content. Chesler says he had hopped Utah lawmakers would change the statute prohibiting them from showing movies depicting sex after Idaho changed a similar statute. “We thought that Utah would follow that, but they did not. So, [the DABC] continued on and tried to stop us from [practicing] our first amendment rights.”
On Thursday, District Judge David Nuffer ruled the state violated their first amendment rights, and their attorney, Rocky Anderson, says it’s a huge victory for free speech. Anderson also says the language in the DABC code was too broad and gave too much power to individuals within the department. “When [statutes] are this broad, it allows so much individual discretion for people like this lawyer for the DABC to impose their own personal values and judgments,” he adds.
Brewvies will celebrate by showing free showings of The Hangover 2 and Magic Mike XXL, which they had been warned not to show, previously.
