In the case of Arcara v. Cloud Books, Inc., the Supreme Court ruled in favor of District Attorney Arcara, allowing him to close down an adult bookstore under a public health law. The owners of Cloud Books had argued that this was a violation of their First Amendment rights as they were being targeted due to the nature of their business and not because they posed any real threat to public health or safety. However, the court disagreed with this argument stating that it wasn't about what books were sold but rather about illegal activities taking place on premises (prostitution). They concluded that there is no constitutional right for anyone to engage in unlawful conduct whether at home or at work and therefore upheld the closure order.

In the dissenting opinion for Arcara v. Cloud Books, Inc., Justice Brennan argued that the majority's decision to allow a bookstore to be closed down due to prostitution occurring on its premises was an overreach of government power and a violation of First Amendment rights. He contended that this ruling could set a dangerous precedent where any business could potentially be shut down if illegal activities were found taking place there, regardless of whether or not those activities had anything to do with the nature of the business itself. This, he believed, would give law enforcement too much discretionary power and threaten free speech protections by allowing them to target businesses they disapproved of under the guise of enforcing unrelated laws.