UNIONTOWN, Ind., July 29 (UPI) -- A sex shop in rural Indiana has filed a legal challenge against Christian protesters who operate out of a patch of county-owned land.
Both sides say that their rights under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution are being violated, the Indianapolis Star reports. The Lion's Den store in Uniontown, a rural area 80 miles southwest of Indianapolis, filed a lawsuit last month against the county and the Jackson County Watchdog.
The store claims the county should not have allowed the group to erect a shed on public land, where its members can take shelter from the elements. The group says it has a First Amendment right to protest.
Lion's Den, an Ohio company, operates a chain of about 30 stores. The one in Jackson County opened three years ago shortly after a child was sexually assaulted and killed, the report said.
After the store opened, the county tried to use zoning regulations to shut it down -- a case that it still pending. And members of the Jackson County Watchdog have been hanging out at the entrance, taking down license plate numbers and pictures of vehicles, which they post on their Web site. They also warn truck drivers that their employers will be told of their visit to the Lion's Den.
