Then Broward County Sheriff Nick Navarro went into civil court and obtained a ruling that the record was "probably obscene." Armed with that, Navarro's deputies visited Fort Lauderdale record shop owners and warned them they should pull the album from their shelves.

The band sued Navarro in federal court. Although U.S. District Judge Jose Gonzalez found that the sheriff's deputies had acted improperly by threatening record store owners with arrest, he surprised 2 Live Crew and its attorneys by finding the lyrics obscene.

[Bruce Rogow], a law professor at Nova University in Fort Lauderdale, said he heard about the arrest when [Luther Campbell] telephoned him from the Broward County jail. Campbell and [Chris Wongwon] had left the club and were driving along Hollywood Boulevard when several sheriff's deputies stopped the car. A sheriff's office spokesman said the arrest was made after the show to avoid any problems with the fans.