While the liberality of lap dance rules, and the legality of the whole "lap dance" concept, varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction in North America -- and from club to club and from dancer to dancer -- Las Vegas is not among those places where the type of contact to which you refer is outlawed. This is thanks to a 2006 ruling by our state Supreme Court that touching during an erotic dance is a form of communication protected by the First Amendment, and came in the wake of a big brouhaha north of the border that culminated in a 1997 ruling by Canada's Supreme Court that a typical lap dance did not constitute an "obscene" act within the meaning of the Criminal Code.
Similarly, while some jurisdictions in the United States outlaw lap dances and enforce a minimum distance between dancer and patron, in Seattle one such minimum-distance ordinance was overturned by public referendum in November 2006. That same year, San Francisco's Commission on the Status of Women recommended a ban on private rooms and booths at adult clubs, but following an outcry from dancers about how this would affect their income, the Commission's proposed ban was not adopted by the city. On the other hand, in 2010, the Detroit City Council voted to ban lap dances in VIP rooms.
The current liberal legal landscape in Las Vegas when it comes to lap dances owes its origins to a 2004 case stemming from a prostitution raid at the notorious (and currently shuttered, again) Crazy Horse Too club, during which more than a dozen dancers were busted for violating the Las Vegas Erotic Dance Code. This code, which had never previously been actively enforced, states that: "No dancer shall fondle or caress any patron, and no patron shall fondle or caress any dancer." But when the D.A.'s office attempted to pursue the enforcement of this obscure rule, claiming that customers were being sexually violated by strippers, the argument was rejected first at municipal, and then District Court level, with Judge Sally Loehrer observing that the definition of "caressing" was particularly vague and further stating, "Why else would anyone go into those establishments? They’re not going for the lighting or the drinks. If people go in there, I would assume they are going in to be erotically aroused."
The case eventually made its way to Supreme Court level, where although some issue was taken with Judge Loehrer's interpretation, bottom line the court concluded that, "Arguably, erotic dance is expressive conduct that communicates, which could be deserving of some level of First Amendment protection. If that is so, fondling and caressing may be protected expressive conduct when part of an erotic dance." It was noted that the protection afforded is not absolute and that fondling and caressing as part of an erotic dance "remains subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions."
This means that Las Vegas' strip clubs offer some of the "loosest" lap dances around (we understand, anecdotally, that Hartford, CT, and Chicago, IL are also pretty liberal, as are many clubs in south Florida and Dallas). As Topless Vegas author and strip club aficionado Arnold Synder puts it, "It doesn’t mean that you have a 'right' to feel up any dancer who sits in your lap. [But] if she wants to exercise her First Amendment rights while she's in your lap, long live the Constitution!" He continues, in more serious vein, "The important point is that if she allows you to touch her, you’re extremely unlikely to be arrested for doing so and she probably won’t be arrested for allowing (or even encouraging) you to do so."
For more on the evolution of these strip club laws and regulations, and in-depth advice on Las Vegas strip club etiquette, including what to do with your hands during a lap dance, allow us to refer you to our sister site and to Snyder's expertise.
