Editorial: Free speech on Fremont

Friday, Sept. 19, 2003 | 9:18 a.m.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in July that the sidewalks of the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas are public, meaning that pedestrians -- along with handbillers, panhandlers and protesters -- retain their rights of free speech. The Experience is located on a portion of Fremont Street that the city ceded to the attraction's private developers. Additionally, the city poured $70 million into the attraction's infrastructure. From the perspective of Las Vegas officials, the city has the right to protect its investment there by declaring the First Amendment inoperative.

The City Council on Wednesday directed the city attorney to appeal the 9th Circuit Court's ruling. In our view, the city should quit while it's ahead. The 9th Circuit Court granted the city some regulatory power over commercial speech -- no one wants an attraction littered with thousands of discarded porno ads. The court said the city can impose "reasonable time, place and manner" restrictions on commercial speech. We'd like to see the city drop its plans for an appeal to the Supreme Court and stop insisting that it has total control over speech at the Fremont Street Experience. We'd like to see the city propose some allowable restrictions and then invite public comment.