Bell sees dispute on Venetian sidewalks going to fed court

Adrienne Packer

Thursday, Feb. 25, 1999 | 11:03 a.m.

The Clark County district attorney said a protest expected to draw 2,000 union members to the sidewalks of the Venetian hotel-casino Monday might land the controversial property-rights issue in federal court.

And that, according to District Attorney Stewart Bell, is where it belongs.

"What will eventually happen with the Venetian issue is it will go before a federal court judge fairly quickly after the issue surfaces," Bell said. "The judge will decide the case-specific rights of all the parties involved."

The sidewalks in front of the hotel-casino became private when the widening of surrounding streets pushed the walkways onto the Venetian's property. The agreement is common with newer Strip megaresorts.

Whether Venetian officials have the right to boot protesters off what Bell refers to as "quasi-private" sidewalks is unclear.

"As a general rule, the court holds that if it appears to be public, the sheer fact there is a certificate of ownership doesn't preclude the public from walking on the property," Bell said. "As a general proposition, where you can walk, you can talk."

Metro police have met to discuss strategies in handling the protesters, one of whom will be Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a former civil-rights activist.

Protesters could be cited by Metro if they impede pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk and might be placed under citizens arrest by casino security officers if they feel the protesters are trespassing.

"There will be some type of action that gets one side or the other to federal court, whether it's a citation by Metro or a citizens arrest by hotel security," Bell said. "Both sides would want that to happen because you can't get to federal court without case or controversy."

Glen Arnodo, the Culinary Union's political action director, said those who show up at the 5:30 p.m. protest are willing to be arrested to preserve their rights.

"It won't dissuade us," Arnodo said. "What I don't understand is, the county made it clear there is full public access on that sidewalk. It mystifies me that it takes arrests. Why (Bell) thinks there needs to be a court case surprises me."

Gary Peck, executive director American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, was less enthusiastic about the thought of arrests, especially by casino security guards. "It would be unfortunate if private security guards attempted to make citizens arrests, which would plainly be violative of people's rights. It would be equally unfortunate if citations were issued."

Peck said the sidewalks along the Strip are public and people have a right to use them to exercise their First Amendment rights as long as they don't violate any laws.

He agreed with Bell's prediction that the case would soon end up in federal court, then questioned the district attorney's ties to casinos.

"This matter will sooner rather than later end up in federal court, and I'm confident that privatization will be declared unconstitutional," Peck said. "It would be nice to see the district attorney, for a change, on the side of the Constitution rather than the casinos."

The Culinary Union is targeting the Venetian because owner Sheldon Adelson refused to give workers who were let go at his Sands hotel-casino priority in hiring to work at the Venetian after the Sands was demolished.

Adelson has maintained that benefit packages offered to nonunion Venetian employees are better than what the union offers.