X-rated: Vegas to clean up its act
2012-09-11 12:45
Las Vegas – Cards advertising exotic dancers and chat lines have
created an endless litter problem in the famous Sin City – and officials have
decided to crack down on the situation by forcing pushy 'handbill' distributors
to pick up the litter within an 8-metre of the pavement.
According to Daily Mail reports, police haven’t begun to
enforce the new law yet but opponents say it contravenes people’s civil liberties,
claiming that the tourists who have takne the flyer and then dropped it are the
ones responsible for the litter – and not the exotic dancer businesses.
According to the report, one company, Strip for Hillsboro
Entertainment, hands out 50 000 handbills a week. Its owner Vincent Bartello
said his staff always pick up their cards if they are thrown away by tourists
and claimed he will not attempt to get the law overturned.
He said: ‘We’re not actually littering. It's the tourists,
the people who come here. But if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be here. And I
want to be able to make something better for them.’
Las Vegas tried to prohibit handbilling in 1997 but the ACLU
intervened in court and won. Subsequent court rulings have established that
pavements along the Strip are public thoroughfares where the First Amendment
protects freedom of speech.
Police Capt. Todd Fasulo claimed the law was straightforward
and, as with any crime, enforcement will be a matter of police priorities.
Meanwhile, tourists say handbillers – who are also known as
'card-slappers' for the noise they make to get people's attention - are as
persistent as ever – claiming “It’s a waste of tress.”
