Assembly panel hears proposal to keep children from seeing lewd ads

Kiley Russell

Thursday, March 25, 1999 | 8 a.m.

CARSON CITY - A group of Las Vegas students on a field trip Wednesday to the Nevada Legislature got more than they bargained for when they walked in on a committee hearing testimony about lewd ads.

Several Molasky Middle School students stumbled into the hearing room where two three-by-four-foot blowups of ads depicting half-naked women were being shown to lawmakers by Assemblyman John Lee, D-Las Vegas, who wants the ads outlawed.

"If you're embarrassed by this, this is how families and parents and mothers feel when their kids bring this stuff to them," Lee told committee members Wednesday. They shifted nervously as the children were quickly led out of the room once their principal, Pam Hawkins, realized what was being discussed.

"I just didn't think that it was appropriate for the kids to sit through," Hawkins said later.

Lee's AB282 would make it illegal for anyone to sell or display publicly material that is considered harmful to minors. Though the bill doesn't name them, Lee said it specifically targets the dozens of different pamphlets and handbills advertising escort services in Las Vegas. The bills are handed out by people hired by the companies or are simply left in open newsracks to be picked up by passersby.

It was examples of those pamphlets that Lee had blown up and shown to the committee.

"This bill is to keep nude products from malleable young minds and to keep them from going down the dark and addictive path of pornography," Lee told lawmakers.

"I'm not asking for a lot," Lee said, adding that his bill would force advertisers to cover women's breasts and men's and women's genitals if the ads can be easily viewed by minors.

Another provision would make it a misdemeanor to sell in "a vending machine located in a public place material that is harmful to minors" unless the machine is in an area only accessible by adults or the owner takes other measures to ensure adult-only access to the products inside.

But a lobbyist representing Hillsboro Enterprises, an escort service company in Las Vegas, said the bill won't stand up to legal challenges.

"As written, the bill is too vague and broad in its scope," said John Cummings of Paladin Advertising. He suggested it would probably "run afoul of the Constitution."

Cummings said his clients can't advertise on television, in newspapers or in the telephone directory, so their ability to hand out flyers or pamphlets shouldn't be limited.

The bill would also force mainstream video stores to sequester their R-rated videos in areas minors couldn't access, Cummings said, adding,. "I think it needs extreme tightening up and extreme scrutiny."

The Clark County District Attorney's Office and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department both testified in favor of the bill, as did the Nevada Resort Association.

"The Nevada Resort Association has received numbers of complaints about these kinds of ads on the Strip over the years," said Paul Larson, a casino lobbyist who said the bill would pass constitutional muster.

"This is not outlawing any kind of advertising," he said. "It merely imposes a restriction on how they can put it in newsracks."