Escort service fights news-rack nudity bill

Thursday, March 25, 1999 | 11:19 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Law enforcement joined the Strip hotel-casinos in Las Vegas Wednesday to fight publications with pictures of nearly nude people that are dispensed through free vending machines in Southern Nevada.

But the largest escort service in Las Vegas, Hillsboro Enterprise, is crying foul and said a bill before the Assembly Judiciary Committee is unconstitutional.

Assembly Bill 282, sponsored by Assemblyman John Lee, D-Las Vegas, would require covers for publications exposing private areas of the human body.

The bill would also require that news racks containing such material have an adult attendant present, to ensure that only adults take the publications. Another option would be tokens or cards, sold only to adults, that would have to be used to gain access to the racks.

As Lee displayed material commonly found in such racks, a class of junior high school students visiting the Legislature walked into the committee room. They were quickly escorted out.

These vending machines, Lee complained, are not only on the Strip but are making their way into neighborhoods. And he said they could end up in arcades, which are hangouts for kids.

He gained support from the Clark County district attorney's office, Metro Police and the city of Las Vegas. And Paul Larsen, an attorney representing the Nevada Resort Association, said Lee's bill would be constitutional as it mirrors a decision by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Assemblyman Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, said one vending machine dispensing these pictures was placed near a school bus stop.

John Cummings, a lobbyist representing Hillsboro, read a legal opinion from Las Vegas attorney Allen Lichtenstein, who said the bill was unconstitutional.

Lichtenstein said the bill expands the definition of nudity that is considered harmful to minors. "If this bill is passed, general video stores will have to segregate their R-rated movies," he said.

Cummings told reporters after the hearing that his client wants to keep this adult orientated advertising out of the hands of children. But he said television and newspapers won't take the advertisements. And the last session stopped this type of advertising in the telephone Yellow Pages.

So it has to use this way to get the word out about legal escort services, he said.