DOTHAN, AL – Observers looking for comic relief on the obscenity beat can cast their eyes toward Alabama almost any day of the week and be satisfied.Long known as a sexually repressive state, Alabama in December proved it has absolutely no tolerance for dirty jokes when it arrested the owner of a “bikini bar” and three dancers, then charged them with obscenity and misdemeanor exposure, respectively, after the girls let slip a little more than the law allowed: One of the women danced topless, and two danced nude except for footwear, according to police reports.

Local laws bar nude dancing, and state laws ban public nudity and “lewdness” where alcohol is served. Although the Christmas Eve party reportedly was a private affair, the Stardust Lounge now faces revocation of its liquor license and possibly of its license to operate a business.

At the time of the incident, proprietor Jeffery Allen Baxter denied the women worked at the club and said he asked his staff to call the police to have them removed from the premises.

“This is a case of girls gone way too wild,” he told the Dothan Eagle.

According to Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission Lt. Jean Turner, the incident was the third at the club during 2007. Previously, the corporation that owns the nightclub was fined $700 for “obscene, lewd and indecent conduct” that occurred in January and September, Turner said, adding that a “lewd act” can be as simple as touching a patron during a dance. The state’s ABC board suspended the club’s license for 30 days in 2005 after three lewd incidents were reported.

The ABC Commission will meet Wednesday to determine the Stardust’s fate.

The obscenity charges against Baxter represent a Class C felony. Alabama law defines obscenity as “the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest of minors; and … the material depicts or describes sexual conduct, breast nudity or genital nudity, in a way which is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community….” A trial date has not been set.