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Attorneys for the state say Utah can crack down on the Brewvies movie theater for showing the superhero movie "Deadpool" because it can constitutionally restrict alcohol consumption in places where there is "adult entertainment."

State regulators threatened to suspend the theater's license for 10 days and slap on a fine of up to $25,000 because, investigators say, the theater screened the movie rated R for nudity, sex acts and other scenes that are banned in places where alcohol is served.

Brewvies has sued the state in federal court, but Gov. Gary Herbert and lawyers with the attorney general's office say the ban is not an infringement of free speech, but rather an attempt to preserve public decency.

"This is about the laws regulating the sale of alcohol, and the laws are clear that if you want to have a liquor license and sell alcohol, you cannot have nudity at the same time," Herbert said during his monthly KUED news conference Thursday. "That's mostly been associated with strip clubs and those activities, so this is a little bit of a different situation. It's been an [ongoing] problem with Brewvies. … This is not a First Amendment issue. This is the laws you have to comply with if you want to distribute alcohol."

Brewvies was fined $1,627 in 2011 for showing the movie "The Hangover Part II," which also includes nudity.

In a court filing late Wednesday, Assistant Attorney General David Wolf wrote that the state's rules don't violate the First Amendment's free-speech protection because Utah "may lawfully prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages in inappropriate locations" and has "the authority to protect public health, welfare and morals of the community."

Wolf is asking U.S. District Judge David Nuffer to dismiss the case and award the state its legal fees.

Three undercover agents went to the movie, ordered beer and reported that the movie includes male and female characters having sex, a scene with nudity, and a scene in the final credits in which the main character rubs a unicorn's horn until it "shoots out rainbows [simulating orgasm]."

Attorneys for Brewvies argued in their lawsuit that the state's threats of fines and revocation of the theater's license for showing "nonobscene" films is an unconstitutional infringement on free speech and the law should be struck down.

Brewvies' attorney, former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, said the Supreme Court ruled that — with few exceptions, for example to address "secondary effects" in the case of strip clubs — states cannot impose more stringent licensing regulations on businesses that serve alcohol than places that don't.

"There are no secondary effects here other than people going out and having a good time and having a little bit of freedom," Anderson said. "When a film like 'Deadpool' is being shown around the state and throughout the country and even throughout the world — the highest grossing R-rated movie ever — it's absolutely absurd for the state to presume that, because they're serving alcohol at this one business, they could be treated differently."

Herbert's argument that the state can impose the restrictions as a condition of licensing also violates the "unconstitutional conditions" doctrine, Anderson said, which says businesses can't be forced to surrender constitutional rights as a term of licensing.

It also is worth noting, Anderson said, that anyone who goes into Brewvies has to be 21 years old, whereas any 17-year-old could watch the movie at any theater around the state.

gehrke@sltrib.com Twitter: @RobertGehrke