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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- By MEG KINNARD

Associated Press Writer

A federal judge has ruled that a South Carolina law limiting the placement of billboards advertising adult businesses is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie issued the order last week.

In 2006, the Legislature pass a law banning billboards advertising adult-oriented businesses from being placed within a mile of public roads.

The owner of the Lion's Den, an adult bookstore along Interstate 26 in Orangeburg County, sued the Legislature last year. The company said the law violated the business' right to free speech.

Attorney General Henry McMaster represented the state in this lawsuit. Neither his office nor an attorney for the Lion's Den immediately returned messages seeking comment.

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