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533.16 SEPARABILITY.
   The provisions of this chapter are separable and if any provision, section, clause or part thereof is held to be illegal, invalid, unconstitutional or inapplicable to any person or circumstance, such illegality, invalidity, unconstitutionality or inapplicability shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses, sections or parts thereof, or their application to other persons or circumstances. It is hereby declared to be the intention of Council that this chapter would have been adopted if such illegal, invalid or unconstitutional provision, clause, section or part had not been included herein, and if the person or circumstance to which this chapter or any part hereof is inapplicable had been specifically exempted herefrom.
(Ord. 81-273. Passed 12-7-81.)
533.17 DECLARATORY JUDGMENT.
   (a)   Without limitation on the persons otherwise entitled to bring an action for a declaratory judgment pursuant to Ohio R.C. Chapter 2721, involving the same issue, the following persons have standing to bring a declaratory judgment action to determine whether particular materials or performances are obscene or harmful to juveniles:
      (1)   The chief legal officer of the Municipality if and when there is reasonable cause to believe that Ohio R.C. 2907.31 or Ohio R.C. 2907.32, or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, is being or is about to be violated;
      (2)   Any person who, pursuant to Ohio R.C. 2907.35(B) or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, has received notice in writing from the chief legal officer stating that particular materials or performances are obscene or harmful to juveniles.
   (b)   Any party to an action for a declaratory judgment pursuant to division (a) of this section is entitled, upon the party's request, to trial on the merits within five days after joinder of the issues, and the court shall render judgment within five days after trial is concluded.
   (c)   An action for a declaratory judgement pursuant to division (a) of this section shall not be brought during the pendency of any civil action or criminal prosecution when the character of the particular materials or performances involved is at issue in the pending case, and either of the following applies:
      (1)   Either of the parties to the action for a declaratory judgment is a party to the pending case;
      (2)   A judgment in the pending case will necessarily constitute res judicata as to the character of the materials or performances involved.
   (d)   A civil action or criminal prosecution in which the character of particular materials or performances is at issue, brought during the pendency of an action for a declaratory judgment involving the same issue, shall be stayed during the pendency of the action for a declaratory judgment.
   (e)   The fact that a violation of Ohio R.C. 2907.31 or Ohio R.C. 2907.32, or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, occurs prior to a judicial determination of the character of the material or performance involved in the violation does not relieve the offender of criminal liability for the violation, even though prosecution may be stayed pending the judicial determination.
(ORC 2907.36)
533.18 INJUNCTION; ABATEMENT OF NUISANCE.
   (a)   Where it appears that Ohio R.C. 2907.31 or Ohio R.C. 2907.32, or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, is being or is about to be violated, the chief legal officer of the Municipality may bring an action to enjoin the violation. The defendant, upon his or her request, is entitled to trial on the merits within five days after the joinder of the issues, and the court shall render judgment within five days after the trial is concluded.
   (b)   Premises used or occupied for repeated violations of Ohio R.C. 2907.31 or Ohio R.C. 2907.32, or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, constitute a nuisance subject to abatement pursuant to Ohio R.C. Chapter 3767.
(ORC 2907.37)
533.19 UNLAWFUL OPERATION OF VIEWING BOOTHS DEPICTING SEXUAL CONDUCT.
   (a)   As used in this section:
      (1)   “Commercial establishment” means an entity that is open to the public and to which either of the following applies:
         A.   It has a substantial or significant portion of its stock in trade of the sale, rental, or viewing of visual materials or performances depicting sexual conduct.
         B.   It has as a principal business purpose the sale, rental, or viewing of visual materials or performances depicting sexual conduct.
      (2)   “Visual materials or performances” means films, videos, CD-ROM discs, streaming video, or other motion pictures.
   (b)   No person who has custody, control, or supervision of a commercial establishment, with knowledge of the character of the visual material or performance involved, shall knowingly permit the use of, or offer the use of, viewing booths, stalls, or partitioned portions of a room located in the commercial establishment for the purpose of viewing visual materials or performances depicting sexual conduct unless both of the following apply:
      (1)   The inside of each booth, stall, or partitioned room is visible from, and at least one side of each booth, stall, or partitioned room is open to, a continuous and contiguous main aisle or hallway that is open to the public areas of the commercial establishment and is not obscured by any curtain, door, or other covering or enclosure.
      (2)   No booth, stall, or partitioned room is designed, constructed, pandered, or allowed to be used for the purpose of encouraging or facilitating nudity or sexual activity on the part of or between patrons or members of the public, and no booth, stall, or partitioned room has any aperture, hole, or opening for the purpose of encouraging or facilitating nudity or sexual activity.
   (c)   It is an affirmative defense to a charge under this section that either of the following applies to the involved visual materials or performances:
      (1)   The visual materials or performances depicting sexual conduct are disseminated or presented for a bona fide medical, scientific, educational, religious, governmental, judicial, or other proper purpose and by or to a physician, psychologist, sociologist, scientist, teacher, person pursuing bona fide studies or research, librarian, member of the clergy, prosecutor, judge, or other person having a proper interest in the visual materials or performances.
      (2)   The visual materials or performances depicting sexual conduct, taken as a whole, would be found by a reasonable person to have serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value or are presented or disseminated in good faith for a serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific purpose and are not pandered for their prurient appeal.
   (d)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of permitting unlawful operation of viewing booths depicting sexual conduct, a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(ORC 2907.38)
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