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October 27, 2014

Guy Wants Strippers' Real Names, Addresses ... to Pray for Them

PIERCE COUNTY, Wash.—We can probably thank the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision for having screwed up the concept of "religious freedom" beyond all rational recognition—and self-described Christian David Van Vleet seems to be using it to drive a Mack truck through Pierce County exotic dancers' privacy. Oh, Van Vleet's FOIA request to the county doesn't reference the concept explicitly. All he's doing is asking County Auditor Julie Anderson for the real names and addresses, as listed on the state entertainer licenses, for the strippers who work at Dream Girls at Fox's in Parkland. Why? Because "I would pray for those dancers by name. I’m a Christian. ... We have a right to pray for people." And apparently, Yahweh won't be able to hear those prayers unless Van Vleet does it using the dancers' real names—and under the state's Public Records Act, Van Vleet has a right to get those names ... and addresses, 'cause otherwise, how will God know where to find the poor dears? After all, what is s/he/it? All-knowing or something? The license information also includes the dancers' height, weight, eye and hair color, date of birth, signature and a color photo. But in what some might describe as an excess of caution (and others might describe as just being a caring human being), as she was processing Van Vleet's request, Anderson contacted 125 of those licensees—dancers, club managers and owners—to let them know someone was asking about their personal info, and oddly enough, they didn't see the situation quite as benignly as Van Vleet would have them believe. "They have an enormous privacy interest in not disclosing their identities," said attorney Jenn Kaplan, who represents one of the dancers and a female club manager in the lawsuit they filed against the county seeking to keep the information private. "Many of them have suffered domestic abuse, many of them are trying to prevent people from knowing their whereabouts." But there are other considerations as well. The manager said she has a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) out against an "abusive former partner," and if Van Vleet posts her information on the internet, that partner could find her. The dancer expressed concern that since her real name is "distinctive," Van Vleet would be able to find her "day job," not to mention that she "has a young daughter, who her friends and family are, and her address and phone number." "I feel I could be harassed by Mr. Van Vleet or other people with nefarious intentions, and that I could suffer the loss of my other job and relationships because of the disclosure," the dancer, suing as "Jane Doe #1," told the Bellingham Herald. Fortunately, U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton understood the dancers' concerns and at a hearing last week, he issued a preliminary injunction blocking the release of the business licenses and names, telling the Associated Press that the release of the information "could be used to harass or threaten dancers or strip club managers." A further hearing in December could make the injunction permanent. "He essentially silenced 7 million people in the state of Washington to protect 70 people’s so-called right to privacy who dance on a stage naked," Van Vleet, a civil engineer by trade, said after last week's hearing. YEAH! 'Cause if 7 million Washingtonians can't find out the real names of the people they want to pray for, they've been "silenced"—and under "religious freedom," we can't have that, can we? And of course, if a few of those 7 million people want to head over to the dancers' homes and, say, stand outside their windows praying loudly so all the neighbors can hear, that's "religious freedom" too! And if they want to contact the managers at the dancers' day jobs and urge them to pray for the employees, or maybe get in the face of the dancers' kids' teachers about a "sin child" in their midst, that's "religious freedom" too! And don't get us started on the phone calls the dancers could receive in the middle of the night. ... But none of that could ever happen ... could it?

 
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