News rack ordinance tabled again

Although Las Vegas City Council members seemed happy with an amended ordinance regulating news racks, the bill was tabled Monday to allow lawyers time to sift through some of the finer words in the proposal.

The bill was written with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Las Vegas Sun to ensure that First Amendment rights are not stifled by the city's attempt to regulate so-called pirate news racks.

The problem came to light last year when citizens and businesses complained about the placement and location of news racks throughout the city. Many of the unlicensed news racks contained adult material.

If approved at the council's next meeting in two weeks, the ordinance would require any publication to acquire $200,000 in public liability insurance to allow the news rack to remain on public property. Certain limits to the placing and frequency of news racks are also included in the bill.

The amended version also treats all publications, whether a daily newspaper or a weekly circular of classified ads, as equal. Before the bill was amended, publications were classed based on frequency of publication and circulation.

Gary Peck, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada, said he was pleased with the ordinance's final wording.

"In its initial form we had some very grave reservations," Peck said. "The amended ordinance is very respectful of the First Amendment."

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