Strip porn

Jeff Schweers

Wednesday, Oct. 16, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The County Commission has asked the district attorney's office to draft an ordinance that mirrors a California law prohibiting distribution of pornographic magazines in unsupervised newsracks.

The ordinance would be aimed at clearing the Strip of newsracks containing slick, sleazy magazines peddling escort services -- a battle the commission has been fighting for years.

"Tourists deserve to enjoy the Strip without being harassed," Commissioner Lorraine Hunt said.

Interest in beefing up the ordinance is timely, Hunt said, given the thousands of complaints received by the board, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Efforts frustrated

The commission has been frustrated in its efforts to wipe out adult materials from the Strip by First Amendment challenges, but a recent 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision may provide an avenue for tighter restrictions, County Counsel Mahlon Edwards said.

In that case, the 9th Circuit sustained a California statute that prohibits unsupervised coin-operated vending machines or newsracks to carry material considered harmful to minors, Edwards said.

The county already has a statute requiring any business that sells adult materials to cover it if it is displayed where it can be seen by minors.

"It's already unlawful to have it where minors can obtain it," Edwards said. "We can prohibit the display or availability of any material harmful to minors."

What made the California ban possible was that the adult material is available through alternate channels, Edwards explained.

A drawback is that any ordinance crafted on the California law still couldn't prevent people from passing out erotic handbills to adults on street corners, Edwards said.

"Sidewalks and public streets are quintessential First Amendment forums," Edwards said.

The county could expand its obstructive use ordinance to further limit handouts in areas where congestion can cause traffic or safety problems, Edwards said.

Privatize sidewalks

An alternative would be to turn over the Strip to the private interests that own property on Las Vegas Boulevard, just as the city of Las Vegas did with the Fremont Street Experience, suggested Commissioner Jay Bingham. Once the streets were private, the owners could then restrict speech, he said.

"Why not take the bold approach," Bingham said. "Go to the state and ask them to turn it over because it's funding itself. Turn the area from Sahara to Hacienda, whatever, over, with a joint board or private governing board."

Assistant County Manager Jim Ley said there have been proposals in the past to turn over sidewalks to Strip properties and make a mall out of the Strip, but there was no compelling interest to do that.

"Certain hotels have taken over jurisdiction of sidewalks," Edwards said. "At least six have obtained injunctions to keep peddlers and handbillers off their sidewalks."

Hunt said Bingham was ahead of his time and agreed that the "ultimate protection of our tourists and our tourist environment" would lead to private entities taking control of the Strip some day.