AUSTIN, Texas (AP) —  The Texas Supreme Court has upheld a $5 entry fee for customers to strip clubs that serve alcohol.

Lower courts had ruled the fee an unconstitutional regulation of free speech. The Supreme Court brushed that aside with a unanimous opinion Friday, saying the fee is constitutional.

The court says the $5 fee is too small to create a burden on the expression of nude dancing.

State lawmakers created the so-called "pole tax" in 2007 to raise money for sexual assault prevention programs and health care for the uninsured. A coalition of strip clubs then sued to block the law.

Information from the Associated Press