Las Vegas tries to rid streets of X-rated litter


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LAS VEGAS ? Some tourists try to dissuade them by directing icy glares their way. Others stare, zombie-like, into the Las Vegas Strip's ubiquitous video screens and light displays in an effort to ignore the pushy handbill distributors.

But some tourists accept the pamphlets and glossy cards that advertise all-but-nude exotic dancers. Then, more often than not, they toss the material in the trash. Or if a trash can isn't nearby, onto the sidewalk -- creating an endless X-rated litter problem that Las Vegas officials are now trying to clean up.

A new ordinance requires handbillers to pick up litter within a 25-foot (7.5-meter) radius on the sidewalk. But there's a hitch: The law might run afoul of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of speech.

"If someone takes some material, regardless of what it is, and then walks down the street and decides to drop it, that's the person who is littering. That's the person that is responsible, not the person who gave it to them originally," said Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the Nevada American Civil Liberties Union.

Las Vegas police aren't enforcing the ordinance yet. The ACLU has been meeting regularly with the exotic dancer businesses and police to talk about how that will happen, as well as encourage handbillers to help keep the Strip clean. The group has not yet challenged the law in court.

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The handbillers are annoying at first, leaning right towards you to hand you the cards. But if you ignore them, they don't try to force you to take the cards. But the times I have been to Vegas, there were loads of the cards all over the floor.

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What a cop out, just pick up the litter that you are making by forcing it onto people who don't really want it. You could even have a paper bin 26 feet either side of you, so you can reclaim pamphlets disposed of, saving printing costs, having a bin right in front of the pedestrians so that encourages them to take it beyond the 25-foot zone, and if they go past the bin or miss the bin (and is still within 1-foot) then it is no longer your responsibility. Or you could even pick up what missed the bin by 1-foot even though you don't have to, save printing costs and do everyone and the environment a favor instead of being a selfish prick.

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