LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Sex handbills sully image of Las Vegas

Siobhan Williams, Las Vegas

Sunday, May 25, 2008 | 2:04 a.m.

I wanted to add my two cents to Wayne Johnson’s Thursday letter about being handed sex handbills as you walk along the Strip. This is one of the main reasons that my husband and I refuse to go to the Strip unless absolutely necessary. When we have friends or relatives in town and they want to see the Strip, we tell them to have fun, and we’ll catch a meal or a drink with them somewhere else when they are done.

The people who hand out these fliers are disgraceful. The last time we went down to the Strip was spring 2002. We were walking along to show our teenaged exchange student from Denmark some of the attractions — the fountains at the Bellagio, the volcano at the Mirage, etc.

Despite the fact that my husband was obviously with his wife and family, men shoved these obscene fliers in his hand as he passed. I watched them give some to a very elderly couple walking in front of us. My husband was incensed that he would get handed something like this while holding hands with his wife.

This practice should be illegal. It litters the sidewalk more than a ticker-tape parade. It is obnoxious and makes the main attraction of this city, the Strip, look like a third-rate red light district. I realize that our little catchphrase is “What happens here, stays here,” but come on, people, we can still show a little class.

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Discussion: comments so far…

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By LV_Tom (Tom Smith)

May 25, 2008

7:44 a.m.

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Sorry... The ultra liberal members of the US 9th circuit court of appeals, based in San Francisco, has decided that those "disgraceful" people that you rail about in your letter are merely exercising their right of free speech.

I happen to think that it is commercial advertising and not free speech. Does McDonalds have a constitutional right to stand on a public sidewalk advertising their latest Happy Meal? That's commercial advertising. So is advertising an escort service on a public sidewalk. But then, I not wearing a black robe.

The elected officials of this valley have tried to limit the fliers many times, only to be stopped by that liberal court. Send your letter to the justices that sit on that court.
By JohnF

May 25, 2008

3:31 p.m.

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Commercial advertising is speech. It's not just the Ninth Circuit Court; if the Supreme Court thought the Ninth was in error they would overturn the decision. The people handing this filth out are in a public place exercising their right to free speech. Having freedom of speech means sometimes we hear distasteful things. Deal with it. It beats living in Saudi Arabia or Iran.