DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — T-Shirt shops in tourist areas of Daytona Beach have sparked some controversy this spring break season.
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Visitors have told Eyewitness News the obscene material displayed outside of some stores isn’t sending the right message.
For years, Daytona Beach has been known for its wild spring break parties, NASCAR and Bike Week. But tourism officials have been working hard to rebrand the area as a family-friendly beach town.
We spotted shirts plastered on the outside of storefronts with insensitive slogans and inappropriate language. We blurred the images to block the words.
“It screams more party beach town to me. I don’t want to have to explain that to her and I don’t want her repeating that,” said tourist Taylor Deconzo as she pointed at her daughter.
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“Just be mindful of the kids. Save a spot in the back of the shop for that,” said visitor Keith Allen.
In a statement to Eyewitness News, the city explained regulating these stores comes with a lot of red tape.
“This issue has been raised previously in Daytona Beach. While most reasonable adults agree those t-shirts are crude and in poor taste, the city’s ability to regulate their display and sales is limited by the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of speech. The U.S. Supreme Court has set a high bar for what qualifies as obscene material, requiring it to meet three criteria: appealing to prurient interests, depicting or describing sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, and lacking serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. The display of the “F” word on a T-shirt does not meet all elements of the obscenity test.”
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Owner of Ocean Ave Gallery Louie Louizes sells the shirts, but said he has a specific location in the back of his store where they are on display.
“There is a freedom of speech but there has to be some common sense too. They do sell, people laugh at them. This isn’t the 30′s and 40′s, little kids are cussing unfortunately,” said Louizes.
Florida does have some obscenity laws that specifically prohibit the sale or display of obscene materials to minors. However, this still falls under First Amendment protection.
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