Carl

Until a few years ago, sidewalk newsracks were nothing but a convenience for the vendee, as well as an economical means of distribution for the vendor. Lately, however, because their proliferation has made them a major traffic hazard for pedestrians and their contents indicate that they are a handy way of peddling smut, they have aroused the concern of local legislatures and become the subject of prohibitory and regulatory ordinances. It is understandable that their transformation from a convenience to a municipal problem does not always trigger legislative responses which successfully avoid the constitutional pitfalls inevitable in an area that involves freedom of speech and of the press—particularly when the state Legislature has already preempted much of the field.

Although proliferation problems should be relatively easy to solve—a newsrack containing the Wall Street Journal obstructs a sidewalk as much as one that offers erotica—two anti-proliferation ordinances have already foundered on First Amendment shoals. (Remer v. City of El Cajon, 52 Cal.App.3d 441 [ 125 Cal.Rptr. 116 ]; California Newspaper Publishers Assn., Inc. v. City of Burbank, 51 Cal.App.3d 50 [ 123…