Public versus private

ALLEN LICHTENSTEIN, GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE ACLU OF NEVADA, HAS SEEN MANY PROTESTS -- more than he can remember -- on the Las Vegas Strip. He has seen war protests, labor protests, homeless protests, religious protests and even sex-worker protests. And he has seen Metro and the hotel-casinos handle the protests in different ways. Sometimes they ignore them, sometimes they observe them from afar and sometimes they chase them off the sidewalks.

So when he attended a Nov. 24 protest in front of Wynn Las Vegas, Lichtenstein wasn't sure what to expect. He was pleased to discover Metro was there to protect the civil rights of the protesters -- not abuse them -- and Wynn security was not creating chaos, but helping keep order.

"This is the way things are supposed to be," said Lichtenstein, who monitored the protest for the ACLU of Nevada. "This is the way things happen here when public scrutiny is on them. Unfortunately, far too often in other situations, First Amendment rights are stifled, people are given misinformation and they are scared off. That's intolerable and cannot continue to happen."

In September, the Wynn began taking a percentage of dealer tips and sharing it with floor supervisors. The protest, said co-organizer Jack Lipsman, was designed to draw attention to the new policy and help get it reversed.

Originally, said Lipsman, the protest was met with resistance. The county's public works department referred him to the Wynn, he said. The Wynn ignored a letter he wrote in early November. And Metro was slow to return his calls.

Finally, said Lipsman, Metro responded and said the group could protest in front of the Wynn -- as long as it didn't block the sidewalk, harass passers-by or use profanity.

"At first, I was concerned they were going to try to stop us from protesting," said Lipsman, a retired dealer and vice president of the International Union of Gaming Employees. "But as soon as they heard from the ACLU, they backed down. It was a wonderful thing. It's like the cavalry came out and saved us."

While Lichtenstein and ACLU of Nevada Executive Director Gary Peck were glad to help out, they were disappointed they even had to get involved. In 2001, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a U.S. District Court ruling that said sidewalks on the Strip function as public forums and protesters can't be tossed off.

But, said Lichtenstein, Metro and some hotel-casinos have ignored the ruling.

"It's unacceptable for the police to decide that the law isn't the law and to attempt to do something that clearly the courts said is not acceptable," he said. "That's part of the problem. And it's been going on for so long that the idea of the county, the police and the casinos not knowing about it just doesn't have any credibility. Everybody knows about it. It's just being ignored on a fairly regular basis."

Added Peck, "The facts, I believe, speak for themselves. I don't think it's unreasonable to conclude that local governments all too often thumb their noses at the courts and at the rule of law. And that's terribly unfortunate."

Erik Pappa, the county's director of public communications, said he doesn't know what happened in this particular case. But, said Pappa, it is not the county's policy to tell protesters to talk to the hotel-casinos.

"If somebody's contemplating a protest on the Strip," he said, "they need to go to Metro and submit an application for a permit. The question then becomes is the sidewalk they want to protest on maintained by the county or one of the casinos. Once they tell us where they are looking to hold the protest, we can try to determine to the best of our ability whether our code applies or not."

Pappa added that the sidewalks were once Nevada Department of Transportation right of way. They were transferred to the county, he said, and it is still trying to determine where the county-maintained sidewalks begin and end.

Metro and the Wynn did not return phone calls.

Lichtenstein said that it's "very disheartening" when governments act as if they're above the law. The message it sends to the public, Lichtenstein said, is that the law applies to some people and not others. If the system is to work properly, he said, we all must obey the law.

"I think this is a real serious problem," said Lichtenstein. "The First Amendment doesn't just exist when the media is out here and the ACLU is out here. The First Amendment is supposed to be respected regardless, and apparently that's not the case now. If a group were to come out here tomorrow on this same sidewalk, but didn't have the same publicity, my guess is there's a good chance it would be told it won't be allowed out here. It's still a really big problem."

Matt O'Brien is CityLife's news editor. He can be reached at 871-6780 ext. 350 or mobrien@lvcitylife.com.