Judge delays ruling on Strip handbills

Although a District Court judge today appeared to lean toward asking Clark County to remove signs prohibiting the distribution of handbills on the Strip, he said he will issue an official written decision later.

Judge Lloyd George also said he planned to schedule a preliminary injunction hearing on the county's second handbill ordinance that was adopted unanimously by Clark County commissioners last week.

Meanwhile, county lawyers agreed not to enforce its new law -- which will go into effect May 19 -- until after the hearing.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Davidson said Monday he believed an injunction that George issued Friday was related solely to the county's first handbill ordinance, which was deemed unconstitutional last year by the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals.

The county's second attempt at an ordinance, which includes more specific language banning commercially oriented leaflets, should pass constitutional scrutiny, Davidson said. After George hears arguments from the county and the American Civil Liberties Union, which is challenging the constitutionality of the new ordinance, the case will likely be returned to the Appeals Court.

Today's hearing stemmed from an ACLU lawsuit filed against the county last month after the district attorneys office refused to take down some 200 "no off-premise canvassing" signs along the Strip.

Davidson said county commissioners, who believe handbill distributors are too pushy and pose a threat to tourists, had already directed lawyers to develop a new law. He added it will cost $10,000 to remove the signs.

George seemed to support the ACLU's argument today that leaving the signs up on the Strip when no ordinance is being enforced has a chilling effect on First Amendment rights.

Deputy district attorney Robert Gower argued otherwise, saying he counted 60 peddlers along the resort corridor over the weekend.

ACLU officials believed last week's injunction applied to the latest ordinance because it simply was an amendment to the old law.

"The injunction issued last week makes it very clear that the county cannot enforce their ordinance because it's enjoined from doing so," ACLU attorney Allen Lichtenstein said. "Those signs are telling people they can be arrested for doing something the courts have said they have an absolute right to do."

The county has for years searched for methods to keep distributors from handing out pamphlets, especially those that advertise erotic dance clubs and picture half-naked women. Commissioners say visitors trying to dodge the leaflets walk into the street or end up tossing the pamphlets on the ground.

George emphasized today that the case was about the Constitution, not the content of pamphlets being handed out on the Strip.

"I don't consider it an obscenity case," he said. "I consider it a First Amendment case."

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