ACLU: Prostitution claims not relevant to handbill suit

Jennifer Knight

Thursday, Feb. 5, 2004 | 9:14 a.m.

A federal civil trial challenging the practice of handing out advertisements on the Strip for outcall services took a few detours Wednesday after two Metro Police officers discussed actions they took that ACLU leaders called illegal.

The case filed by Clark County alleges that S.O.C. Inc. and Hillsboro Entertainment are fronts for illegal prostitution and therefore the distribution of fliers or handbills promoting the two businesses is illegal.

"We're not trying to regulate so much the content of the material that is handed out but rather the activity surrounding it," county attorney Doug Mitchell said during a court break.

Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union say they want U.S. District Judge Lloyd George to look beyond allegations that the two companies are call-girl operations and view the lawsuit as an assault on First Amendment rights.

"The nature of the outcall service is just a sideshow issue," said Allen Lichtenstein, an ACLU attorney. "What is at stake in this case is not just the outcall services but a whole range of other businesses that would not be able to exercise their First Amendment rights."

But testimony given in court Wednesday by two Metro officers suggested S.O.C. and Hillsboro were involved in a prostitution sting operation. The two officers said they arrested several girls sent by those two companies for solicitation.

Details about how the sting operations worked included the fact that many of the operations were videotaped only to be erased later on.

"I don't believe any of those videotapes exist anymore," Detective Scott Kavon said. "I can't imagine they do."

Outside of court, Lichtenstein said the testimony was secondary to the case but it was an important admission.

"Even though this is peripheral to the case, this is one that opens up an entire Pandora's box with the police as it relates to prostitution," Lichtenstein said. "They destroyed evidence. It is clearly a violation of the 14th Amendment."

Gary Peck, executive director of ACLU Nevada, said he was floored when another Metro officer testified about how he removed S.O.C. literature from the news racks.

"We impounded the news racks because they were in a place they weren't supposed to be," Detective Jerry Soldana said. "I did that because it was in violation of the ordinance."

Peck later called the admission "stunning."

"Without any notice or due process, to simply go and yank papers out of a news rack is utterly inappropriate and deeply disturbing," Peck said.

Testimony was expected to conclude today and George is expected to rule within the month.