Santa Ana Sues Again to Stop X-Rated Films

Following up on action it took Monday, the City of Santa Ana filed suit Wednesday seeking to close down the Mitchell Bros. Theatre as a public nuisance for showing what the city alleges are obscene films.

The City Council, by resolution, determined Monday that the continual display of such films since November, 1975, constitutes a nuisance that the court should be asked to abate.

The city has been trying to shut down the X-rated theater for the last 10 years, filing eight suits in the past and twice going to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1981, the nation’s high court eased the standard of proof the city has in showing that the films are obscene. But a year later, the court rejected the city’s appeal from a state court ruling that allows the city to prevent only the showing of movies already judged to be obscene.

The latter decision, city officials have said, has made prosecution difficult because the theater continually changes the films it shows.

In December, 1977, an Orange County Superior Court jury declared that 11 films shown at the theater, located on 17th Street across from Santa Ana College, were obscene. That decision was upheld on appeal.