Foxy Lady granted temporary stay, allowed to reopen

January 3, 2019 4:37 pm

By Jordan Mazza

Email: news@abc6.com

Twitter: @ABC6

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – The Foxy Lady is back— temporarily at least.

The Rhode Island Supreme Court agreed Thursday to a temporary stay of enforcement in the decision to revoke the strip club’s entertainment license, as long as the club’s VIP section remains closed.

‘We’re happy with this decision,” said Foxy Lady Manager Richard Angel. “We thank everybody for their support. The whole community, the customer base, the business community, the other businesses in our industry.”

The ruling allows The Foxy Lady to reopen while the club’s attorneys and the Providence Board of Licenses arbitrate over the future of the establishment.

“Hopefully this will bring everything almost back to normal,” said Steven Brown of the ACLU, which filed a “friend of the court” brief in support of the Foxy Lady. “The 200-plus employees will be able to go back to work, and in the mean time all these very serious constitutional issues will be considered by the court.”

The ACLU argues the Providence Board of Licenses didn’t have the right to shut down the club based on misdemeanor prostitution allegations.

“The Board of Licenses has jurisdiction and has certain standards that it applies,” said Board of Licenses Chair Dylan Conley. “I agree with the Board of Licenses’ decision. The Supreme Court has another set of standards and issues to apply.”

The matter will be placed on the court’s full argument calendar some time in April.

The Foxy Lady was shut down on December 19th, the Board of Licenses revoking the club’s licenses after three employees were charged with soliciting undercover Police officers.