The federal appeals court in Atlanta has upheld Sandy Springs’ prohibition against adult entertainment establishments that want to sell sexual devices.

The city enacted the ordinance, which criminalizes the distribution of “obscene” sex toys, in 2009. A number of businesses then filed suit, seeking to strike down the ban on grounds it was unconstitutional.

In the litigation, the plaintiffs contended they have a fundamental right to engage in acts of private, consensual sexual intimacy.

But on Tuesday, in a unanimous decision, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it was bound by a ruling it issued in 2004 that rejected a similar challenge against an Alabama statute that prohibited the sale of sexual devices.

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