Ban upheld on solicitation

I've written about this topic before and since it has has come up in the news again, it's time to bring it up. The city of Las Vegas has long been trying to ban solicitors from passing out material to passersby on The Strip and at The Fremont Street Experience. It has been through several courts and has now arrived at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The argument of the city is that the First Ammendment does not provide for protection of solicitors, who are out trying to advertise and make a buck, by walking city streets and passing out information. According the ACLU, the First Ammendment does provide such protections and they've been fighting the ban for several years.

The Courts recently ruled the city was with-in the law and the ban did not violate the First Ammendment. I tend to agree with the city. I am one of the first of people who would stand up to protect First Ammendment rights, but I don't expect that I, as a business owner, have the right to stand on street corners and pass out advertising. Advertising costs money, and the only alternative to the ban, I feel, would be to license these solicitors and have them pay a fee to the city for using that space to advertise their business. Sounds fair to me.

I personally hate walking down The Strip and constantly having little business card sized pieces of paper shoved in my face advertising escort services and other "adult" material. I'm certainly not a prude, but when you practically run into these people because they will not get out of the way is annoying, and I don't believe they should be there. To me, it's not an issue of free speech, it's an issue of a business using publicly paid for property to advertise their business, with no compensation to the public. Billboards, signs, bus stops, newspapers, radio and television all offer ample advertising possibilities. Limiting the public's right-of-way is not one of them.