Fremont Street Experience hearing to be held in Reno

Thursday, Feb. 19, 1998 | 10:19 a.m.

RENO -- A federal judge will hear arguments Friday on a American Civil Liberties Union request to allow people to panhandle or distribute literature within the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas.

U.S. District Judge David Hagen will conduct the hearing in Reno on the lawsuit filed by the ACLU and others against the city of Las Vegas and the Fremont Street Experience Ltd. Liability Corp.

The ACLU and other plaintiffs are asking for a preliminary injunction to stop the enforcement of a city ordinance that prohibits solicitation of funds or distribution of pamphlets in the downtown casino core. At issue is whether the ordinance is a violation of a person's constitutional right to free speech.

The city says the Fremont Street Experience, which is owned by the liability corporation, can be compared to other government-built facilities where First Amendment rights are surrendered such as rest areas, stadiums and museums.

The hearing was set for Tuesday but was postponed.

The downtown casinos and the city agreed on a plan in 1995 to convert the area into a pedestrian mall, complete with a light show to draw tourists.

Other plaintiffs besides the ACLU are the Shundahai Network, the Universalist Unitarian Social Justice Committee and its president Paul Brown. Other defendants are Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones and the Fremont Street Experience President Mark Paris.

A preliminary injunction, if granted, would permit the prohibited activities until a full-blown hearing can be held on the issue.

Hagen is the third judge assigned the case after Lloyd George and Philip Pro disqualified themselves.