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EDITORIAL
Free speech on the Strip
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Sidewalks on the Strip are public forums. But some casinos don't like to see union pickets, street performers or distributors of sex industry handbills in front of their properties.
The latest attempt by business and law enforcement to control free expression on the Strip is dangerously absurd.
According to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, two men were seized from the sidewalk in front of The Venetian by hotel security guards on Jan. 15, then detained until they could be handcuffed and searched by Las Vegas police.
All because Jason Perez-Morciglio was wearing a Zorro costume. His brother, Sebastian Perez-Morciglio, sometimes joins him dressed as Darth Vader, but on this occasion he wasn't in costume. The men entertain passers-by for tips, and on this day they were merely standing around, according to the lawsuit.
After being held for more than an hour, searched and photographed, they were escorted to a parking lot at the rear of the hotel and warned not to "trespass" on the sidewalk again, or else face arrest.
"Both the United States District Court and the (9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals) have explicitly stated that the sidewalk in front of The Venetian is a public forum," said attorney Allen Lichtenstein of the ACLU of Nevada. "Unfortunately, the hotel doesn't appear to feel bound by the courts' decision."
It's bad enough when casinos, with the help of police, detain gamblers who use legal means to obtain an advantage over the house. But to kidnap citizens from the sidewalk because they dress and act funny? That's scary stuff.
Las Vegas can't afford to create even a single anecdote that portrays the Strip as a place where the First Amendment is on permanent vacation.
Hotels and police need to get the message: Free expression is not a crime.
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Excuse me, M.S., I'm sure there are public perimeters around Disneyland. And just so you know, your's is a snarky, slow on the pick-up thought process to miss the implication. The vulgar distribution of sex industry handbills and the ACLU defending it...hey wait, where do you do business M.S. I'm sure you would appreciate that type of free speech, where you work everyday.
Old News-
You don't seem to get the distinction. Public sidewalks are just that public, therefore anyone can go express themselves there. If the person is on private property, Disneyland's or any other private owner then the expression may be limited. The Venitian was told twice by separate courts they don't own our sidewalk therefore they can't limit expression. Get it? Good.
I'd like to see how long these goofballs and any of the other mentioned activities would last out in front of any Disney property. Just wondering...how hard would the ACLU fight for those vulgar distributors of sex industry handbills on the sidewalk, out in front of Disneyland? I believe they would.
I guess Las Vegas police didn't get the message that their job is to abide by the "Supreme Law of the Land" the US Constitution. What this police department has morphed into is a kind of private army enforcing casino "law".