County may fight court ruling

Clark County may fight a federal appeals court ruling that allows handbill distributors back on the Strip while the constitutionality of an ordinance barring them is being tested in U.S. District Court.

While a team of county attorneys charted its next move, peddlers of exotic dance acts and strip shows returned to Las Vegas Boulevard on Monday.

County Commission Lorraine Hunt was miffed by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision and subsequent request that Senior U.S. District Judge Lloyd George issue an injunction forbidding enforcement of the ordinance.

"We're talking about the possibility of appealing," Hunt said Monday. "That is one that makes a lot of sense to me."

Hunt, who authored the ordinance in 1997, said the county tailored the law after a Key West, Fla., ordinance that also restricts the distribution of handbills.

She said the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which reviews Florida cases, upheld the ordinance. Hunt said only two of the 9th Circuit's 27 judges heard Clark County's case.

In looking at the validity of the injunction, the two justices offered their opinion of the constitutionality of the county's ordinance, but did not rule on the law itself, Clark County spokesman Tom Warden said.

The justices on the appellate court, based in San Francisco, said that the county ordinance is too vague and violates the First Amendment by banning certain forms of speech.

Although the opinion of the justices may signal trouble ahead for the county ordinance, the official ruling last week only upholds an injunction barring the enforcement of the law while it is being contested in a trial before Judge George, Warden said.

Assistant District Attorney Chuck Thompson said the group of lawyers will discuss today whether to revise the ordinance or ask the Supreme Court to review the current one.

Thompson, who said he will recommend the county revise the ordinance, said the current law will remain in effect until Judge George issues an injunction.

"But knowing the order (for the injunction) is coming, we're not going to try and enforce it," Thompson said.

Clark County officials find themselves in a position similar to many cities that attract tourists. They wonder how to keep their streets free of litter and peddlers without violating constitutional rights.

Greg Thomas, a First Amendment attorney based in Florida, commended the West Coast court's decision.

The First Amendment is always threatened, he said. He supports any decision to protect it, even if it allows people to hand out smut-filled pamphlets to tourists.

"Anyone with a small printing press could start a newspaper," he said. "Everyone has the option of not accepting the leaflet. If somebody is offensive, that is not First Amendment protected."

Proponents of the ordinance have argued that the content of the leaflets is not the problem. The problem, they say, is the aggressive distributors and the pamphlets that pile up on the Strip's sidewalks.

Hunt said the ordinance is about peddlers accosting tourists and damaging the image of the Strip. She said papers offering free roller-coaster rides or two-for-one buffets are also banned.

"Billions of dollars are being spent on megaresorts that have outside attractions," Hunt said. "People want to walk along the sidewalks and be entertained. It's frightening to have people accosting you.

"It's not what they have in their hands, it's what they do with these things."

Thomas suggested the county adopt an ordinance that makes handbill distributors responsible for picking up discarded leaflets. Or, he said, the county can simply put out more trash bins.

Hunt, who is running for lieutenant governor, emphasized that the court ruling was not the result of a poorly written ordinance.

"We had brilliant attorneys drafting the ordinance to make sure we didn't restrict free speech," Hunt said. "We will have our day in court and we will prove we are not impeding or banning free speech."

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