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Thread: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

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    Default TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    Full article here: http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/n...file-suit.html

    "The state of Texas and the city of Houston have filed suit to have the Treasures adult entertainment club declared a public nuisance and shut down.

    The suit alleges that the owners, management and employees of the club, located at 5647 Westheimer, knowingly tolerate the human trafficking of young women for the purpose of prostitution and allow drug activity and other organized crime."

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    God/dess cherryblossomsinspring's Avatar
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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    Wow I was reading about what happens at this club in few threads. I'm almost not surprised this came up.

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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    It was known for this sort of stuff, but then again, Houston in general is. Makes me wonder which club is next...

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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    Shit, if they cared about that in Miami there would be NO strip clubs left in Miami. I'm happy driving an hour up to Fort Lauderdale to work now. This shit is out of control.

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    Senior Member YNOTJay's Avatar
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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    Doesn't the city have anything better to do?

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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    Yeah none of that exists in the oil business or any of the other major industries in Houston that go far beyond raping the public and polluting the air. And of course there is no problems with violent crime or robberies going on in Houston. Nah... always better to go after strip clubs.
    Last edited by Djoser; 06-04-2012 at 04:49 PM.

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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    I'm not defending any of that stuff at all. I'm defending innocent until proven guilty. I'm defending the concept of the law focusing less attention on strip clubs. I come from a long adult online industry background and have a problem with assumption of guilt and zealous prosecutors.

    If it's proven in a court that actual human trafficking is going on, then I'd be more than OK with the perps being strung up by their nuts.

    And don't even get me started on the topic of prostitution. Long story short, I'm a firm believer that it should have been legalized and taxed a longggg time ago.

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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    Yes, I am the one who doesn't care about dancers, despite being one. You are the one who understands this industry best and has our interests at heart. You've made that very clear and I don't imagine your contempt with the state of Texas has anything to do with the business venture you're trying to launch in Houston and Austin.

    Oh, and in regards to the quick search results you apparently couldn't find, here's 756 of them, many detailing encounters with drugs and prostitution: https://www.tuscl.net/stripclub.php?DID=2741

    ...I and many other girls here can verify that they paint an accurate portrayal of what is allowed at Treasures.
    Last edited by Djoser; 06-04-2012 at 04:52 PM.

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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    Where do I say "I understand this industry best" ??

    Where have I made that "very clear"??

    Are there any other words you'd like to put in my mouth?

    And yes, you can stop imagining anything... we are launching across the U.S... not "trying to launch" here in TX. It's a done deal and I'm just garnering feedback from GMs.

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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    I care because you've posted in two threads that talk about major issues in Houston, where I live and work, and your responses invalidate the struggles that dancers in this area are going through. You are giving new dancers misinformation gathered from having a biased perspective. If you had read my posts about Ritz before you posted in the other thread, you would have seen that I already touched on the issue of the GMs bringing in men as friends who get preferential treatment. As a potential business associate, of course you had a lovely time. But the girls there are working in terrible conditions and to me, that matters far more than whether the managers seemed like nice guys to customers and business associates. Glossing over these issues is disrespectful.

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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    Ignoring fight to add: Its about damn time Treasures got shut down.

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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    OK... points taken tuesdaymarie. In all fairness though... you misunderstood me. While I'm only a partial heartless S.O.B.... on the one hand, yeah of course I care about working conditions, but on the other hand, i'm also a fan of free will. If a job or company sucks, you leave. If human rights are at issue, you sue.

    And let's face it... EVERYONE's perspective is going to be somewhat biased. And the fact that I'm a business guy should also carry substantially less weight on this site. I get it. I highly doubt though that my few comments here or there are going to be directly or indirectly responsible for putting a new dancer down a path of destruction. Mmmkay?

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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    Shy, apparently Sarah Tressler (the "Angry Stripper" dancer/writer who has had some news time herself recently) agrees: http://houston.culturemap.com/newsde...es-ridiculous/

    I wonder whether this "circuit" is indeed the extent to which Treasures facilitates trafficking.

    This quote in particular stood out to me: "They masquerade as legitimate businesses, but these high-end strip clubs like Treasures really are hubs of human trafficking," city attorney David Feldman told the Houston Chronicle. "We are hopeful that with this action, we serve notice not only on Treasures, but the other clubs out there that Houston-Harris County is not going to put up with this type of criminal activity."

    I'm wondering whether they'll stop by "making an example" out of Treasures, or whether they've had investigations in other clubs as well. Apparently, they've been focusing on Treasures for ~6 months, so I can't imagine they've had enough resources to intensely monitor other clubs, but who knows.

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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    Alright, thread cleaned.

    I am opposed to human trafficking. In fact I genuinely believe there's a good chance I will get shot someday beating the shit out of one of the thousands of fucking pimps trying to run their game in stripclubs all over the USA--since I don't carry a gun and a lot of them do. It's already come close to happening twice..

    It ain't just in Houston, and it sure as shit ain't just in Treasures.

    If indeed there is human trafficking going on in Treasures, than the people responsible need to be put away, and I wish their nuts could be cut off with rusty spoons first. But from my experience in 12 years in the business, working in 'clean' clubs, and working in fucking whorehouses, I can tell you that a whole hell of a lot of dancers are just as eager to suck dick as the customers are to get theirs sucked. I've seen it on the cameras more times than I care to think about. That's why we have cameras and bouncers watching the dancers at all times--it's not just to protect them, it's to keep them from sucking dick.

    I don't like it at all. But denying that it's going on in clubs all over the country is to remain willfully ignorant.


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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    ^From the description in the article, the defense lawyers suggest that the "trafficking" allegation involves a travel circuit that workers go on through the club. Naturally, the defense says that's the closest to trafficking that they get to and that it's all innocent, etc. If that's the extent of it, then my guess would be that prosecutors have evidence that the women traveled the circuit with the intent to prostitute and that the club at least had knowledge of it, thus they're arguably facilitating the transfer of those women. Although details of the allegations haven't been made public yet (to my knowledge), prosecutors seem to be hinting at a much more sinister situation. Whether they actually have evidence of it or if they're just drumming up the drama to the case remains to be seen. Articles elaborating on the "underground sex trade" within Houston are pretty common, with a popular statistic being that, according to the DOJ, 1 out of 5 trafficked persons in the country passes through Houston. They usually reference the "seedy strip clubs" and massage parlors in such articles, but perhaps this trial is investigators' attempt to tie the more affluent clubs in with the rest.

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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    I have seen managers and owners pimp out the girls. Though these girls were willing, it still made me sick to see what it did to the atmosphere in those clubs. The business is already bad enough without this shit going on. Thanks for filling us in, TuesdayMarie.
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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    I HATE election years !!!

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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    cause no: 2012-28683 5/16/2012

    ...Treasures doesn't affect the public outside its property. All the things that have been located nearby for years like, the new middle school around the corner, the thousands of cars driving by, the Exxon Station across the street, the flower shop next door, the homes 100 feet from the club, the new bank drive thru behind the club, etc... have not run away due to Treasures creating nuisance & blight. It's just community bullying and politics.

    The city's assertions, although embellished and wrongly characterized, have truth.

    "Other drug and organized crime" ...do those those big dancer bags have kilos of cocaine in them? lol.

    The nuisance complaint was filed and Treasures has been trying to clean up their act. They now fire girls if caught in the act. They check purses for condoms/drugs, etc... Its not 100% foolproof but its a level of effort. This type of complaint was the same used to closed down Penthouse for a year. Penthouse opened back up and the same BS happens and nothing changed except politics.

    The city could stake out one road in town and give out speeding tickets everyday for a year. Then claim its the most unsafe street in the world and needs to be closed. Same tactic they are using on strip clubs. The city is trying to find other legal ways to eliminate SOB's since directly passing laws that make it impossible for "a select industry" to exist is illegal.

    Bottom line, the city wants good press and politics. Instead of going after the pimps, leaving the girls alone, and asking the club to clean it up the best they can, ....they take the easy way out by arresting dancers and trying to close one club for a year.

    The judge has not made his ruling yet but i'm betting it will be closed for year and the 60+ other clubs will be business as usual.
    "Peter, did you take Stewie to a strip-club? He smells like sweat and fear." - Lois and Stewie (Family Guy) ... "Through early morning fog I see, Visions of the things to be, The pains that are withheld for me, I realize and I can see..."

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    Default Re: TX filing suit to shut down Treasures

    The last nail in the coffin.

    http://www.khou.com/news/local/Judge...169233086.html

    HOUSTON--After the Harris County Attorney and the City of Houston filed a lawsuit to have a local strip club shut down, a judge issued a court order on Monday that Treasures can stay open provided it meets a host of new conditions.

    A full list of conditions is listed below:
    - All bags of all employees must be checked and that process must be recorded on camera.
    - Dancers more adequately cover their bodies, with full coverage of the behind.
    - Patron Dresscode: shirts must be tucked in.
    - State and federal background checks will be performed on everyone who works at Treasures, including contractors.
    - In the event of a felony conviction, the offending employee will be fired.
    - No more un-reported sex acts or drug buys. All must be reported to HPD.
    - Security officers are required at all times on all levels of the club.
    - Mandatory random drugs tests of all employees will take place at least two times a month.
    - Treasures will install an additional 14 cameras to the existing 12 cameras at the club. Video will be turned over to county and city attorneys to review. Cameras must be installed in the next 7 days. Videos are for attorneys’ eyes only and cannot be used by HPD in a criminal prosecution.
    - Any serious violation of these new orders could lead to a full evidentiary hearing that could lead to an immediate closure of the club.
    - December 10th scheduled for now as the date of the full evidentiary hearing to decide of Treasures has met the new requirements enough to remain in operation.
    "Peter, did you take Stewie to a strip-club? He smells like sweat and fear." - Lois and Stewie (Family Guy) ... "Through early morning fog I see, Visions of the things to be, The pains that are withheld for me, I realize and I can see..."

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